Subject(s)
Delivery of Health Care/organization & administration , Government Programs/economics , Health Care Costs/legislation & jurisprudence , National Health Programs/organization & administration , Cost Control , Cost Savings , Government Programs/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Quality Control , United StatesABSTRACT
Radiographs and charts were reviewed for all children with cerebral palsy who underwent posterior-only spinal fusion with the unit rod for neuromuscular scoliosis by the senior author from 1989 through 1996. Fifty patients were found to have an open triradiate cartilage at the time of fusion. A single observer obtained measurements of the preoperative, postoperative, and most recent spine films using the standard Cobb angle. Amount of change was calculated over the respective periods. Forty-three patients had at least 2 years of clinical follow-up. Twenty-nine patients had more than 2 years of both radiographic (mean, 4.6 years) and clinical follow-up (mean, 4.8 years) with a closed triradiate cartilage on their most recent films. In this group, the mean absolute curve change over the length of radiographic follow-up was 0.6 degrees (range, -9-14). None of the 43 patients with at least 2 years of clinical follow-up (mean, 4.5 years) had any radiographic change that was clinically significant on chart review. Therefore posterior spinal fusion alone with unit rod instrumentation is adequate treatment to control crankshaft deformity in skeletally immature children with neuromuscular scoliosis due to cerebral palsy.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Palsy/complications , Scoliosis/surgery , Spinal Fusion/methods , Adolescent , Child , Female , Humans , Internal Fixators , Male , Scoliosis/etiology , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
A 13-year-old G(0)P(0) white female with trisomy 21 presented with a complex pelvic mass. She underwent resection of the mass and complete staging for what was found to be a stage IIIC completely resected dysgerminoma. She was treated with three cycles of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin chemotherapy and remains free of disease 1 year later. This association is presented as a rare case that may illustrate the relative increase in germ cell neoplasms in female patients with Down's syndrome. While the association of seminoma with Down's syndrome has been documented in a number of cases in males, the female counterpart of this tumor, dysgerminoma, in trisomy 21 has been reported quite infrequently. The potential for germ cell tumors in both male and female trisomy 21 is therefore illustrated.
