Minimally invasive spine surgery strategy for congenital cervicothoracic scoliosis in children: Less blood loss and shortened segmental fusions/fewer pedical screws.

Objective: To explore the feasibility of a minimally invasive spine surgery strategy for congenital cervicothoracic scoliosis. Materials and methods: From April 2022 to August 2022 in the hospital, three patients with torticollis and/or shoulder imbalance due to a cervicothoracic hemivertebra were performed on by hemivertebra resection and short fusion of the adjacent vertebrae. Resection was operated by a posterior approach. The average age of three patients of surgery was 8 years 2 months and the mean follow-up period was 6 months. Radiographic assessments and cosmetic outcomes were documented on changes in measurements of segmental scoliosis, neck tilt, head shift, shoulder balance, and sagittal profiles. Results: The mean operating time of the procedure was 283 min and the instrumentation density was 1.5 pedicle screws per vertebra. The mean estimated blood loss was 257 ml, which was 20% less than the data described in various literatures. The mean segmental Cobb angle at the cervicothoracic deformity was 35.9° before surgery, 20.7° after surgery, and 16.3° at the latest follow-up, with a correction rate of 54.59%. Neck tilt decreased from 17.3° before surgery to 14.3° after surgery, and 11.7° at the latest follow-up, with a correction rate of 32.37%. T1 tilt improved from 16.5° before surgery to 12.9° after surgery, and 7.6° at the latest follow-up, with a correction rate of 53.94%. The clavicle angle improved from 4.8° before surgery to 3.1° after surgery, and 1.9° at the latest follow-up, with a correction rate of 60.42%. Head shift improved from 21.4 mm before surgery to 9.2 mm after surgery, and 12.3 mm at the latest follow-up, with a correction rate of 42.52%. The correction of torticollis and shoulder asymmetry was achieved in all cases. Conclusions: Minimally invasive spine surgery strategy may be an option for congenital cervicothoracic scoliosis. A good correction of cervicothoracic dissymmetry is achieved, accompanied by fewer pedicle screws and less blood loss. By deliberate operation in young kids, surgical intervention for severe compensatory curves can be prevented.

Prognosis analysis of T 1 stage nasopharyngeal cancer with different lymph node and metastasis stages in the era of precision radiotherapy / 中华放射肿瘤学杂志

Objective:To evaluate the survival prognosis for T 1 stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients complicated with different stages of cervical lymph node metastasis, aiming to provide reference for optimizing the treatment plan. Methods:Clinical data of 413 patients in non-keratinizing carcinoma and undifferentiated locally early nasopharyngeal carcinoma (T 1N 0-3M 0-1) undergoing radiotherapy alone or radiochemotherapy in Department of Radiation Oncology of our hospital from January 2014 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The survival analyses were performed with Kaplan-Meier method and statistically compared using the log-rank test. Results:Of all patients, 291 were male, and 122 were female (aged from 9 to 78 years old) with a median age of 51 years old. All patients were diagnosed with T 1N 0-3M 0-1 nasopharyngeal carcinoma. In the TNM stage grouping system, 48(11.6%) patients were classified as stage Ⅰ (T 1N 0M 0), 158(38.2%) cases of stage Ⅱ(T 1N 1M 0), 162(39.2%) cases of stage Ⅲ(T 1N 2M 0), and 45(10.9%) cases of stage Ⅳ A to Ⅳ B(T 1N 3M 0/T 1N xM 1). Eight patients (1.9%) with stage Ⅳ B had metastasis at presentation. The lymph node positivity rate of all patients reached up to 88.1%. Seven patients received three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy, 371 cases of intensity-modulated radiotherapy and 35 cases of volumetric-modulated arc therapy. The 5-year overall survival rate was (95.9±1.2)% and with 100% for T 1N 0M 0 patients, (99.2±0.8)% for T 1N 1M 0 patients, (95.1±2.2)% for T 1N 2M 0 patients and (87.9±6.6)% for T 1N 3M 0 patients, respectively. Primary distant metastasis and N 3 stage were significantly correlated with poor prognosis (both P<0.05). The most common long-term side effect of radiotherapy was xerostomia with an incidence rate of 18.6%(17.9% for grade 1 toxicity), followed by hearing damage and tooth discomfort. Only 2 patients developed Grade Ⅲ toxic reactions, manifested as complete hearing loss. Conclusions:Although T 1 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients have a high propensity of cervical node metastasis, favorable clinical prognosis can be obtained after radiotherapy alone. Moreover, the long-term side effects under precision radiation exert no severe effect upon the quality of life of patients.