The Limitation of Endoscopic Surgery Using the Full Endoscopic Discectomy System for the Treatment of Destructive Stage Pyogenic Spondylodiscitis: A Case Series.

INTRODUCTION: Conservative therapy, including appropriate antibiotics and bracing, is usually adequate for most patients with pyogenic spondylodiscitis. If conservative treatment fails, surgical intervention is needed. However, major spinal surgery comprising anterior debridement and accompanying bone grafting with or without additional instrumentation is often related to undesired postoperative complications. In recent years, with minimally invasive surgery, the diagnostic and therapeutic value of endoscopic lavage and drainage has been proven. This study reports a case series of patients who required open revision surgery after treatment with endoscopic surgery using the full endoscopic discectomy system (FED), indicating the surgical limitations of endoscopic surgery for pyogenic spondylodiscitis. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the medical records of 4 patients who underwent open debridement and anterior reconstruction with posterior instrumentation following endoscopic surgery for their advanced lumbar infectious spondylitis. They had been receiving conservative treatment with antibiotics for 12-15 days. They also had various comorbidities, including kidney disease, heart failure, and diabetes. Numerical rating scale pain response, perioperative imaging studies, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were determined, and causative bacteria were identified. Primarily, the bone destruction stage was classified using computed tomography with reference to Griffiths' scheme. RESULTS: All patients had severe back pain before surgery with no relief of the pain after FED. Increased pain, including radicular pain after FED, was noted in one case. Causative pathogens from biopsy specimens were identified in 3 (75%) of the 4 cases. In preoperative radiological evaluation, all cases were classified as destructive stage in Griffiths' scheme. The CRP levels of all the patients decreased slightly after endoscopic surgery. Relapse of spinal infection after revision surgery was not noted in any patient during the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: The surgical treatment of destructive-stage spondylitis with FED alone can increase low back pain due to aggressive debridement.

Rh-Mediated Enantioselective Synthesis, Crystal Structures, and Photophysical/Chiroptical Properties of Phenanthrenol-Based [9]Helicene-like Molecules.

The enantioselective synthesis of phenanthrenol-based [9]helicene-like molecules has been achieved via the rhodium-mediated intramolecular [2 + 2 + 2] cycloadditions of 3-phenanthrenol-linked triynes. Crystal structures and photophysical/chiroptical properties of these [9]helicene-like molecules were compared with the corresponding [7]helicene-like molecules.

Highly chemo-, regio-, and enantioselective rhodium-catalyzed cross-cyclotrimerization of two different alkynes with alkenes.

It has been established that a cationic rhodium(I)/(R)-tol-binap complex catalyzes the cross-cyclotrimerization of silylacetylenes, di-tert-butyl acetylenedicarboxylates, and acrylamides with excellent chemo-, regio-, and enantioselectivities. Unsymmetrical alkynoates can also be employed in place of di-tert-butyl acetylenedicarboxylate for this process, but with reduced chemoselectivity.

[A case of hepatocellular carcinoma treated by resection of metachronous rib metastasis after primary hepatectomy].

A 76-year-old man underwent right hemihepatectomy and partial hepatectomy of segment II for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at our institution. Four months after the primary hepatectomy, the patient complained of severe back pain on the right side, and computed tomography and bone scintigraphy indicated metastasis of the eighth rib on the right side. Because no metastatic lesions were observed in any organ, the patient underwent surgical intervention for the rib metastasis in December 2011. Histopathological findings confirmed that the metastatic tumor originated from the HCC and that cancer tissues were absent from the surgical margins. Postoperative radiotherapy was additionally performed for preventing local recurrence. The sharp cancerous pain disappeared completely, and the patient was lived without recurrence 6 months after the second surgery. In cases where intrahepatic or other metastatic lesions are controllable and only a solitary bone metastatic lesion is evident, surgical resection is effective in HCC patients with bone metastasis.

A review of 331 rhabdomyosarcoma cases in patients treated between 1991 and 2002 in Japan.

BACKGROUND: To prepare for a Japanese nationwide group study of patients with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), we examined the characteristics and outcomes of RMS patients treated recently in Japan. METHODS: We classified 331 RMS patients treated between 1991 and 2002 at 63 institutions according to the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study V (IRS-V) risk-group classification. RESULTS: Ten-year survival rates were 86.3% for patients in low-risk subgroup A, 80.7% for low-risk subgroup B, 62.7% for intermediate-risk subgroup A, 61.7% for intermediate-risk subgroup B, and 38.1% for the high-risk group. The outcomes of the patients in the former three groups were 8%, 12%, and 21% worse than the outcomes of the respective patients in the IRS-III and early IRS-IV data. The frequency of the alveolar histological subtype was 21.8%. Chimera genes, which are useful markers for the alveolar subtype, had been examined in only 10% of the patients treated in the period of this investigation. The survival rates of our patients with embryonal and alveolar histological subtypes (65.9% and 63.4%, respectively) were not significantly different. Among the patients in the high-risk group, the 5-year survival of patients who received high-dose chemotherapy (HDC; 58.2%) was significantly better than that of patients who did not receive HDC (18.4%). CONCLUSION: Patients in the lower-risk groups with embryonal-type tumors had poorer outcomes in this retrospective study. The better outcome of patients in the high-risk group is apparently due to the outstanding results obtained with an HDC regimen in a single institution. These results suggest that there is a need for: (1) a standard therapy, (2) a rapid central pathology review including a chimera gene analysis for the lower-risk group, and (3) evaluation of the efficacy of the high-dose regimen for the high-risk group in Japan.

[Complications in the central nervous system during chemotherapy for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: JACLS ALL-02 study].

We evaluated central nervous system (CNS) complications treated under the ALL-02 protocol of the Japan Association of Childhood Leukemia Study (JACLS) from April 2002 to March 2005. According to NCI Toxicity Criteria, 17 events of grade 3 and 4 CNS complications were reported in 15 out of 541 patients. Out of these CNS complications, leukoencephalopathy was seen in 5 patients; seizure in 5; cerebrovascular disease in 3; conscious disturbance in 2; and hypertensive encephalopathy and reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome in one patient each. The complications were intensively observed during induction therapy and the last of the early phase chemotherapy. The protocol treatment was stopped or modified in most patients after CNS complications. MRI imaging demonstrated no improvement in one patient with leukoencephalopathy who developed an isolated CNS relapse, while other patients were alive and remain in their first complete remission without any neurological sequelae. Further studies will be required to analyze risk factors for CNS complications during chemotherapy not accompanied by irradiation and to establish alternative treatments after the appearance of such CNS complications.

Osteoma arising from the lumbar articular process.

A 57-year-old man presented with an extremely rare osteoma originating from the left L-5 inferior articular process and causing lumbo-crural sciatica. Postmyelography computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed an osteoma compressing the spinal nerve root at the lateral recess. Decompression facetectomy and excision of the lesion followed by transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion between L-5 and S-1 provided complete relief from the symptoms. Histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of benign osteoma. The previous seven cases of spinal osteoma involved the vertebral body, pedicle and posterior elements. Spinal osteomas should be considered in the differential diagnosis of benign lesion originating from the articular process.