Substitution in vertebral resections.
The authors discuss the reconstructive methods used after curettage and/or vertebral resection possibly associated with removal of surrounding muscular, visceral and nervous structures.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S Bandiera.
The authors discuss the reconstructive methods used after curettage and/or vertebral resection possibly associated with removal of surrounding muscular, visceral and nervous structures.
The authors examine 83 consecutive cases of fracture and dislocation of the lower cervical spine submitted to surgery over a period of 5 years. Sixty-five patients were monitored with minimum 5-months follow-up, 5 died, 13 could not be traced. Lesions were classified based on the method proposed by Argenson3 with the purpose of identifying guidelines for surgical treatment. Thus, different methods are proposed based on the type of lesion and on any neurologic deficit. Intersomatic fusion with anterior approach is the method of choice in most lesions. The exception to this is monoarticular dislocations that cannot be reduced, so that reduction by posterior approach associated with discectomy and anterior fusion are recommended. Circumferential fusion is proposed for traumatic spondylolistheses, complete dislocations with unsatisfactory anterior reduction, in lesions in flexion-extension and rotation associated with complete spinal cord injury, in order to favor functional rehabilitation free from ortheses. The need to review many cases of traumatic lesions of the lower cervical spine (LCS) collected over a relatively short period of time derives from the need to identify guidelines that will help the surgeon in his or her choice of the type of surgery to perform on the patient with emergency injury. The basic premise, as for other sites of traumatic injury, resides in an efficient classification (corresponding to the anatomic injury and of immediate and intuitive application) to which options for treatment may be related. In particular, an evaluation of the type of approach (anterior, posterior, combined) and of the sequence of surgical stages is essential to obtaining effective results with an acceptable complication rate. Finally, treatment must be definitive, and in cases of severe spinal cord injury it must allow for rapid rehabilitation and freedom from the use of ortheses.
Spinal metastases are only apparently similar lesions, considering the large varieties of istotypes and the spread of the primary tumor. These metastases develop early and are not terminal events, they have to be considered as severe complications because, when possible, surgical treatment can improve the history of the patient in terms of life expectancy and quality of life. The approach to these lesions should be multidisciplinary in collaboration with oncologists and radiotherapists, in fact the average of survival of these patients has increased in recent years. The evolution of anesthaesiological techniques that permit surgical treatments that were once considered prohibitive. The application of new adjuvant therapy increases the effectiveness for surgical treatment. Controversy exist over the most appropriate treatment for patients with metastatic disease of the vertebral column. The purpose of this article was to determine the best sequential process to arrive at the most appropriate treatment considering the individual general conditions and the parameters of the metastases. We review 269 cases in 182 patients suffering from spinal metastases from a solid tumour treated between 1996 and 2002. As the number of treatment options for metastatic spinal disease has grown, it has become clear that effective implementation of these treatments can only be achieved by multidisciplinary approach.
The authors describe the clinical case of a patient aged 18 years affected with giant cell tumor (GCT) at C3 who came to the surgical unit of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at the Ospedale Maggiore in Bologna after being treated by surgery elsewhere. Particular attention is paid to surgical access by means of median transmandibuloglossotomy used in order to obtain a sufficiently wide surgical field that can adequately expose the vertebral segment affected by neoplastic disease. In particular, possible complications that may be observed postsurgery can be compared to other surgical approaches to the upper cervical spine and above all that there are no permanent clinical sequelae.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Plasmacytoma is a systemic malignancy and it is the most frequent primary tumor affecting the skeleton. Progression from solitary plasmacytoma to systemic diffusion is reported to be 65-100% in 15 years. A case report of a rare 22-year follow-up of a thoracic solitary plasmacytoma is here presented. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Clinical case analysis, radiographs, magnetic resonance images and histological sections of the lesion are discussed. Repeated surgical interventions were required due to progression and local recurrence of disease. RESULTS: Although the inadequate surgical treatment, low response to chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and many local recurrences, no systemic diffusion of the disease was observed in 22 years. DISCUSSION: Aggressive surgery may be indicated in young patients with isolated lesion and good prognostic factors. Palliative surgery remains necessary in order to decompress the cord and to stabilize the spine.
The authors evaluate the posterior approach to the cervical spine with the patient in a sitting position for the surgical treatment of neoplasms of the vertebral arch. Advantages and risks, particularly those related to anesthesia, are examined. Two cases in which the sitting position was advantageous are reported.
The authors describe two cases of syphilis of bone with multiple pathologic fractures. Healing of the fractures occurred over a normal period of time, with the production of hyperplastic callus. Differential diagnosis with tumorous and pseudotumorous lesions is possible based on clinical data and a history of the patient, as well as specific laboratory tests for syphilis; occasionally, biopsy is required.
The authors present a new system for the topographical description of vertebral neoplasms. The general criteria of reconstruction after curettage or vertebral resection are evaluated. The literature is reviewed in terms of the use of prostheses, bone grafts, cement and stabilization systems in the treatment of tumors of the spine. Indications for the different methods are discussed.
With the purpose of clarifying the limits of resection surgery (en bloc excision) for the treatment of bone tumors of the spine, the authors report the indications and results of 43 operations. This series was homogeneous in terms of oncological and surgical staging, as well as with regard to surgical method used and anaesthesiology. Three different types of surgery were performed: en bloc resection of tumors of the body (sectors 5-9 or 4-8 depending on the WBB staging system), of the posterior arch (sectors 10-3) or characterized by eccentric growth (sectors 2-5 or 8-11). The surgical margins were histologically studied in all of the cases: based on the evaluation and on histological diagnosis further chemo- and/or radiation therapy were decided on. Long-term follow-up was obtained for all of the cases (from 6 to 153 months, mean 30 months; 26 cases followed for more than 24 months). Six of the patients died as a result of the disease from 10 to 28 months after resection. There were 4 local recurrences, 4 pulmonary metastases, and 5 metastatic disseminations to the skeleton and to other tissues observed in 11 patients. At final follow-up 33 patients (77%) were thus disease-free (32 continually), in excellent condition, and capable of living a normal life. Complications and treatment are also reported. A careful study of the neoplasm, an appropriate selection of the patients based on diagnosis and histological staging, a knowledge of the natural progression of bone neoplasms and of the surgical anatomy of the vertebral column, the application of suitable measures of anaesthesiological control, allow for a correct cost/benefit evaluation of this type of surgery as compared to oncological methods that are less effective but more diffused. On the basis of these considerations indications for en bloc resection in tumors of the spine are defined.