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PubMed1995

BSH distributions in the canine head and a human patient using 11B MRI.

A 3D projection reconstruction (3DPR) method was used to obtain in vivo 11B images in a large canine brain tumor model and in a human infused with borocaptate sodium (BSH). Studies were performed in dogs with and without gliosarcomas implanted and grown to a size of 2-3 cm. The 3DPR method demonstrates a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) that allows qualitative kinetic studies of the boron compound in normal and tumor tissue of the head. The measurements indicate initial uptake of the BSH compound in tumor to be less than that in muscle with no uptake in normal brain tissue. Moreover, uptake of BSH in tissue was found to lag the boron concentration in blood with delays that depend on tissue type. In addition, the first human boron images were obtained on a patient who underwent surgical resection and volumetric debulking of a large (7 cm) glioblastoma multiforme. BSH was readily taken up in residual tumor tissue, while diffusion into the resection volume was slower.

Animals↗

PubMed1995

Pediatric cervical spine instrumentation using screw fixation.

From July 1986 to August 1993 we performed 24 pediatric cervical spine screw fixation procedures on 23 patients 16 years of age or less. The types of cervical instrumentation procedures performed were as follows: anterior cervical plates 12, posterior C1-2 screw fixations 8, posterior lateral mass plates 2, odontoid screw fixations 2. The mean age of all patients was 14.2 years (range 6-16). Indications for operation included traumatic instability in 20 cases, congenital instability in 1 case, 2 cases of postoperative swan neck deformity, and one reoperation for early graft and hardware failure. Six of the 23 patients had persistent instability following previous failed fusions (3 with 1 prior surgery, 2 with 2 prior surgeries, and 1 with 3 prior surgeries). Eight patients had improvement of their neurological status following operation and 15 remained at their preoperative level of neurological function. No patient was worse neurologically after their procedure. There were no long-term instrumentation, graft or fusion failures. Two complications occurred. One was the aforementioned graft and hardware failure requiring reoperation, the other was a superficial wound infection treated successfully with antibiotics. We feel that cervical spine fixation techniques have increased our ability to stabilize the pediatric cervical spine and have proven to be safe and effective.

Adolescent↗