Minimally invasive laminar lift and posterior cervical laminoplasty via the intermuscular approach: a canine model study

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a minimally invasive surgical procedure for laminar lift and posterior cervical laminoplasty via the intermuscular approach using a canine model. Methods: Six Alaskan dogs were used for developing the surgical approach. The bilateral laminae of C3-7 were cut with an ultrasonic osteotome and fixed with bilateral plates to maintain the lamina lifting and reshape a wider spinal canal. The important structures, such as ligaments, supraspinous ligaments, interspinous ligaments, and ligamentum flavum were preserved. The therapeutic effect was evaluated by preoperative and postoperative imaging results and neck mobility. Results: The surgical procedures were all successfully performed in the 6 animals. All the dogs survived well within 1 year of postoperative follow-up. The postoperative neck mobility was as good as the preoperative one. Computed tomography results showed that the anteroposterior diameter of the spinal canal was successfully enlarged and maintained well. Conclusions: The minimally invasive surgical procedure for laminar lift and posterior cervical laminoplasty via the intermuscular approach was feasible in a canine model, which might be applied in clinical practice.

Thermal field study of ceramic slot microwave ablation antenna based on specific absorption rate distribution function

Objective: The objective was to investigate the law of three-dimensional thermal field radiation of ceramic slot microwave (CSMW) ablation antenna. Materials and Methods: First, microwave ablation experiments were performed with phantom and temperature data were collected. Second, the specific absorption rate distribution function of microwave (MW) ablation antenna was fit. Third, the MW ablation thermal field morphology was simulated based on the rapid simulation method. In addition, to determine the thermal field simulation accuracy, comparative analysis on the ablation morphology of forty clinical patients with liver cancer receiving percutaneous treatment was conducted. Results: Regarding the ablation morphology, the CSMW ablation antenna had greater long and transverse diameters and ablation volume than the polytetrafluoroethylene slot microwave (PSMW) ablation antenna (P < 0.05). Compared with the actual ablation morphology in clinical practice, the error rate in long and transverse diameters of the simulated morphology of thermal field was up to 5% and the minimum was 1.2%, whereas the maximum volume error rate was up to 9.8%. Conclusion: The CSMW ablation antenna had a greater long diameter, transverse diameter, and volume regarding the ablation morphology than the PSMW ablation antenna, and the thermal field morphology obtained based on the rapid simulation algorithm had a high accuracy

Correlation factors of lymph node metastasis in patients with clinical stage T1a non-small cell lung cancer / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the relationship between the lymph node metastasis and clinicopathological features in patients with clinical stage T1a non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinicopathological data of a total of 418 patients who underwent lobectomy and systematic lymph node dissection were retrospectively analyzed. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between lymph node metastasis and clinicopathological features.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Lymph node metastasis was observed in 25 patients. There were 122 patients who were diagnosed as ground glass opacity with no lymph node metastasis. 399 patients had subcarinal dissection, among them 7 patients were found to have lymph node metastasis. Univariate analysis showed that gender, smoking history, diameter of lymph node, ground glass opacity (GGO), differentiation of the tumor and tumor site were the factors affecting lymph node metastasis (all P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that diameter of lymph node, differentiation of the tumor and the site of lesion were independent risk factors for lymph node metastasis of NSCLC.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Tumor in the left lung, poor differentiation, and diameter of lymph nodes ≥ 1 cm on the preoperative CT image are independent risk factors for lymph node metastasis of NSCLC, hence we should pay attention before surgery and systematic lymph node dissection should be done. For patients with poor differentiation and lymph nodes ≥ 1 cm, subcarinal lymph nodes dissection is recommended for the sake of higher possibility of lymph node metastasis. For patients with ground glass opacity ≤ 2 cm, the lymph node metastasis is extremely rare, therefore, selective lymph node dissection is reconmmended.</p>