Treatment of keloids with surgical excision and postoperative X-ray radiation.

124 patients with keloids were treated with surgical excision followed by postoperative X-ray radiation, begun within 24 hours after surgery. Only patients with a two-year keloid history were included in this study. The treatment results were evaluated 6 and 24 months after treatment. There was good correlation agreement between subjective and objective evaluations. Good or excellent results were observed in 92% of the patients. Side effects were moderate. Slight hyperpigmentation was found in 31% of the patients and telangiectasis in 15%. It was concluded that excision and early postoperative irradiation constitute effective keloid treatment.

Argon laser treatment of port wine stain.

The authors achieved excellent results using argon laser treatment of PWS in 45% of 84 patients. Punch biopsies were taken preoperatively in all patients. Their classification according to fullness of erythrocytes of the vessels was found to be of relative value in predicting the treatment result. It is thus found to be advisable to administer a test treatment of a limited area in all patients.

Incorporation of nonviable bone grafts. Autoclaved autogeneic and frozen allogeneic bone grafts compared in the rabbit.

In 14 adult rabbits the middle third of the ulna was resected bilaterally followed by reimplantation of resected bone after autoclaving on one side and transplantation of allogeneic bone on the other. In 7 animals the bilateral implants were supplemented with allogeneic bone matrix. The reconstructions were studied in vivo by serial radiography, scintigraphy, and bone mineral determination. The animals were killed at 16 weeks, and the ulnar reconstructions further studied by high resolution radiography, 45Ca autoradiography, and histology. In both types of nonsupplemented reconstructions, new bone formation was poor; nonunion occurred in three out of seven autoclaved reimplants and in five out of seven allogeneic transplants. Supplemented with allogeneic bone matrix, both types of reconstructions exhibited abundant new bone formation and complete incorporation of all implants. Enhancement of new bone formation is probably more important than the type of nonviable bone graft chosen for reconstruction of large skeletal defects.

Radionuclide scintigraphy of femoral head specimens removed at arthroplasty for failed femoral neck fractures.

In order to determine the value of scintimetry as a tool for quantitative measurement of femoral head vascularity, the results of postoperative scintigraphic and histologic examination of surgically removed femoral head specimens were compared with those of preoperative radionuclide scintigraphy in 19 failed femoral neck fractures. Following intravenous administration of 600 MBq of Tc-99m MDP before hip replacement, the activity distribution in femoral head sections was recorded with a gamma camera and the area of isotope uptake calculated. A correlation was found between the results of preoperative noninvasive radionuclide scintigraphy and the assessment of isotope uptake in the removed femoral head specimens (r = 0.83, p less than .001) and was confirmed by the results of histologic examination. There is a risk, however, of overestimating the ratio of isotope uptake between the femoral head on the fracture side relative to the contralateral side with respect to quantitative assessment of femoral head vascularity, due to the general increase in isotope owing to accumulation in the injured hip region. The calculations, however, reflect the levels of radionuclide uptake and the varying degrees of femoral head vascularity.

Preoperative short-term radiotherapy in rectal carcinoma. A preliminary report of a prospective randomized study.

Between 1980 and 1983, 373 patients with clinically resectable rectal adenocarcinoma entered a prospective randomized study aimed to evaluate the effect of short-term preoperative radiotherapy. Protocol violations were identified in 21 instances. Of the remaining 352 patients, 182 were randomized to surgical treatment only (S-group). Immediately, before surgery, 170 patients were irradiated to the pelvic region with 25 Gy (2500 rad) during a 5-day period (RT-group). Of these patients, 59% underwent abdominoperineal excision, 38% anterior resection, and 3% laparotomy only. At surgery distant metastases were discovered in 32 patients (9%). There were no significant differences between the groups in the distribution of age, sex, operative methods, and tumor stage according to the original Dukes' classification. During the follow-up time, ranging between 6 months and 3 years, tumor recurrence occurred in 35 patients, 19 in the S-group and 16 in the RT-group. Fifteen patients in the S-group had pelvic recurrence compared to 10 patients in the RT-group. Distant metastases occurred in six and eight patients, respectively. Two patients in each group had both pelvic and distant recurrence. There was no correlation between tumor recurrence and type of operation. Median time interval from diagnosis to pelvic recurrence was 10 months in the S-group and 16 months in the RT-group. Postoperative complications in the form of wound sepsis were slightly more common in the RT-group. In summary, the applied treatment regimen, is well-tolerated and apparently does not affect the Dukes' stage of the tumor. Although there is no statistically significant difference, there is a trend of less pelvic recurrence in patients receiving preoperative radiotherapy.