Syringobulbia extending to the basal ganglia.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C Forni.
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The authors analysed the patterns of recurrence of osteosarcoma of the extremities treated between 1959 and 1989 either with surgery alone (1959-71) or with combined surgery and adjuvant (1972-82) or neoadjuvant chemotherapy (1983-89). In a total of 452 patients with recurrent osteosarcoma, the initial site of metastasis was the lung in 88% of cases independently of the type of treatment received. The mean period of onset of pulmonary metastasis differed according to the type of treatment performed: 8 months for patients treated with surgery alone; 15.9 months for those treated with adjuvant chemotherapy and 20.3 months for patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The incidence of metastases appearing within 12 months of FU was 87%, 56% and 21% respectively. In a most recent and effective neoadjuvant protocol (66% DFS), the incidence of recurrence owing to pulmonary metastasis during the first year of FU was 2% and as much as 75% of all recurrences were concentrated in the following 18 months. Surgery for pulmonary metastasis in patients undergoing chemotherapy was performed in 54 cases with secondary healing in 14 (26%). On the basis of these results the authors suggest a scheme of radiological follow-up for patients with osteosarcoma of the extremities treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy with intensified controls (every 2 months) during the period with the highest risk of recurrence (13-20 months) and four-monthly controls during the first year and after 31 months of FU. In order to increase the efficacy of FU controls during the high-risk period, the a. propose using CT controls instead of chest X-rays at months 14, 20 and 26.
The effect of intra-arterial versus intravenous infusion of cisplatinum on the histological response of osteosarcoma of the limbs was evaluated based on the results of three studies in which CDP was preoperatively associated with MTX and ADM (1st study), and with MTX, ADM, and IFO (2nd and 3rd studies). In the chemotherapeutic protocol that involved 3 drugs the percentage of "good histological responses to chemotherapy" (defined as tumor necrosis > 90%) was significantly higher in the 40 patients who were administered CDP by intra-arterial infusion as compared to that observed in the 39 patients treated with CDP by intravenous route (78% versus 46%: P .004). In the two sequential studies where 4 drugs were used, the percentage of good histological responses was essentially the same for patients treated with CDP administered intravenously, and for those treated with CDP administered intra-arterially (78% versus 84%). Regardless of the route of infusion used to administer cisplatinum the percentage of "good" histological responses was significantly higher in the 109 patients treated with the 4-drug protocol as compared to the 79 patients treated with the 3-drug protocol (82% vs 62%; P .04). This difference may essentially be attributed to the higher percentage of good responses observed in the 4-drug protocol in patients treated with CDP administered intravenously (78% vs 46% for patients treated i.v. with the 3-drug protocol; P .006). For the patients instead treated with CDP administered intra-arterially the percentage of good responses was essentially the same with the 4-drug protocol and with the 3-drug protocol (84% vs 78%; P ns). These data lead us to conclude that in the neoadjuvant treatment of osteosarcoma of the limbs a preoperative 4-drug protocol (MTX, CDP, ADM, IFO) is more effective than a 3-drug protocol (MTX, CDP, ADM), and that in a 4-drug preoperative chemotherapy protocol intra-arterial infusion of CDP does not offer particular advantages as compared to intravenous infusion.
METHODS: Local recidivation (incidence, risk factors an prognosis) was analysed retrospectively in 765 patients with non-metastatic osteosarcoma of the extremities treated between 1972 and 1992 either with surgery alone (78 cases) or with surgery and associated adjuvant (258 cases) and neoadjuvant chemotherapy (429 cases). RESULTS: The local recurrence of the disease, which was documented in 26 patients (3.4%), was significantly related to the type of surgery performed (1.1% in 344 amputated patients vs 5.2% in 422 patients treated with resection; p < 0.003) and with surgical margins (0.6% in 700 radical or extensive operations vs 22.7% in 66 marginal or intralesional interventions; p = 0.0001). In patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the incidence of local recidivation was also correlated with the type of histological response to chemotherapy (2.9% in 274 cases with a "good" response vs 8.4% in 154 cases with a "poor" response; p < 0.021). In all 26 patients local recidivation was associated with metastases occurring before (16 cases), after (3 cases) or in concomitance (7 cases) with the local recurrence of neoplasia. In spite of treatment performed at the start of recidivation, 25 patients (96.1%) died from the tumour whereas the mortality rate in those patients with metastases but no local recidivation was only 72.1% (261 out of 362 cases). This difference was also statistically significant (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained appear to justify the current trend of minimising demolitive surgery in osteosarcoma of the extremities. Surgery should only be performed in these patients by centres able to make an adequate evaluation of surgical margins and the histological response to preoperative chemotherapy. In view of the fatal prognosis linked to recidivation and the high probability of its onset in cases with inadequate surgical margins and a poor response to chemotherapy, the authors propose that subsequent amputation should be performed immediately in those patients undergoing resection who present both these conditions.