Vascularised fibular grafts as a salvage procedure in failed intercalary reconstructions after bone tumour resection of the femur

Vascularised fibular grafts (VFGs) are widely used for primary reconstruction of long bones after bone tumour resections. The biological properties of VFGs are such that they can be a useful option even in failed intercalary reconstructions. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the results and the morbidity of VFGs as a salvage procedure in failed previous reconstructions after intercalary bone tumour resection of the femur. Our series included 12 patients, treated from April 1989 to March 2005, with an average age of 23 years (range 10-43 years) at presentation. The initial diagnosis was osteosarcoma in 10 cases and Ewing's sarcoma in two cases. All patients received chemotherapy and none received radiation therapy. Seven patients received VFG as biologic augmentation in intercalary allograft non-union and in the other five patients, a combination of allograft and VFG was used to replace a cement spacer with hardware failure (four patients) and a failed intercalary prosthesis (one patient). Three patients died during follow-up, in all cases because of metastatic disease. At an average follow-up of 147 months (range 11-260 months), the remaining nine patients were continuously disease-free. Complete healing of the osteotomy of both allograft and VFG was observed in 10 patients at final follow-up. Two major complications were observed that required surgical revision, eventually healing in one case and leading to a poor functional outcome in one case. Significant hypertrophy of the VFG was detected in seven of nine evaluable patients. At final follow-up the mean Musculoskeletal Tumour Society (MSTS)'93 functional score of the nine evaluable patients was 90% (range 66-100%). These results indicate that VFG is a valid salvage procedure in failed intercalary reconstructions of the femur after bone resection. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Pelvic massive allograft reconstruction after bone tumour resection

Purpose The purpose of this report was to retrospectively review a series treated with pelvic tumour resection and massive allograft reconstruction, and determine survival of patients and implants, functional results and morbidity of surgical technique. Methods From 1999, 33 patients underwent pelvic tumour resection and massive allograft reconstruction. The mean age was 40 years (range, 14-72) and 29 patients had a primary malignant tumour. The resection involved the acetabular area in all but three patients. Results At a median follow-up of 33 months (range, two-143) four patients had local recurrence. The morbidity was high: five deep infections (15 %), requiring two allograft removal, six hip dislocations (18 %), eight sciatic nerve palsy (24 %), persistent in six cases, and two loosening of the acetabular component. Implant survival was 87.3 % at last follow up. The cumulative overall patient's survival was 41.5 % at five and ten years. The average MSTS functional score was 70 % (range, 54-100 %) when the acetabulum was preserved while it was 61 % (30-100 %) in patients with acetabular resection. Conclusion In conclusion, pelvic allografts represent a valid option for reconstruction after resection of pelvic tumours but due to the associated morbidity, patients should be carefully selected

The differential effect of normal and pathological aging on egocentric and allocentric spatial memory in navigational and reaching space

BACKGROUND: Topographical disorientation (TD) refers to a particular condition which determines the loss of spatial orientation, both in new and familiar environments. TD and spatial memory impairments occur relatively early as effect of cognitive decline in aging, even in prodromal stages of dementia, namely mild cognitive impairment (MCI). AIMS: (a) To show that components linked to the recall of familiar spatial knowledge are relatively spared with respect to the learning of unfamiliar ones in normal aging, while they are not in MCI, and (b) to investigate gender differences for their impact on egocentric and allocentric frames of reference. METHOD: Forty young participants (YC), 40 healthy elderly participants (HE), 40 elderly participants with subjective memory complaints (SMC), and 40 elderly with probable MCI were administered with egocentric and allocentric familiar tasks, based on the map of their hometown, and with egocentric and allocentric unfamiliar tasks, based on new material to be learned. A series of general linear models were used to analyze data. RESULTS: No group differences were found on egocentric task based on familiar information. MCI performed worse than the other groups on allocentric tasks based on familiar information (YC = HE = SMC > MCI). Significant differences emerged between groups on egocentric and allocentric tasks based on unfamiliar spatial information (YC > HE = SMC > MCI). A gender difference was found, favoring men on allocentric unfamiliar task. CONCLUSION: Familiarity of spatial memory traces can represent a protective factor for retrospective components of TD in normal aging. Conversely, using newly learned information for assessment may lead to overestimating TD severity