A modified Frosch approach for posterior tibial plateau fractures: Technical note and case series.

Achieving the best possible articular congruity following a tibial plateau (TP) fracture is associated with better long-term functional outcomes; TP has an essential role in the movements of the knee joint and is well established that a not optimal reduction leads to articular instability and early osteoarthritis. In recent times, 3D reconstruction from CT scan has greatly contributed to improve the surgical treatment of these fractures since an accurate preoperative plan gives the possibility to decide the best interventional strategy before the surgical incision. Reduction of the posterior part of tibial plateau is not easily achievable with standard surgical access. Several posterolateral approaches, proposed by authors such as Frosch and Lobenhoffer, have been described over the years; these approaches can be divided into 2 groups: with or without osteotomy of the fibula. Main disadvantages of these techniques are the large skin incision, the difficulty of exposing the lateral part of the tibia, the high frequency of damages of the posterolateral TP corner, and in some cases the necessity of performing fibular head osteotomy. The surgical approach presented in this paper is a simple innovation of the well-known Frosch approach: skin incision is about 12 centimeters in length and runs in a "S" shape with the center positioned over the head of the fibula. It starts 2 centimeters laterally to the tibial crest 6 centimeters below the tibial tuberosity and is directed proximally, curving posteriorly at the level of fibular head and returning straight in the most proximal part; it terminates 4 centimeters posteriorly the lateral femoral condyle. This innovative approach allows the trauma surgeon to achieve an optimal exposure and control of posterior tibial plateau fractures, with the great advantage of being able to treat the lateral tibial plateau with the same surgical incision.

Management of prosthetic joint infections: a guidelines comparison.

BACKGROUND: In the last decade, the number of prosthetic joint replacements has been rising each year and this growing trend is related to the increased number of prosthetic joint infections (PJI). As PJI represent a devastating condition for the patient, physicians must identify the best treatment option for each case. Guidelines are not always clear regarding the most appropriate therapy pathway as they differ in many parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Aim of this article is to compare the different indications as reported by four major Academic Societies: the Infectious Disease Society of America, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) which published the guideline in partnership with the European Bone And Joint Infection Society. CONCLUSIONS: PJI Guidelines differ in many parameters, therefore the choice of treatment for each case does not appear immediate; it would be desirable that, in the next few years, new scientific evidence will help clarify the indications of the most effective therapeutic protocols for PJI to determine the ultimate surgical strategy for every single patient.

Predicting locally advanced rectal cancer response to neoadjuvant therapy with 18F-FDG PET and MRI radiomics features.

PURPOSE: Pathological complete response (pCR) following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) is reached in approximately 15-30% of cases, therefore it would be useful to assess if pretreatment of 18F-FDG PET/CT and/or MRI texture features can reliably predict response to neoadjuvant therapy in LARC. METHODS: Fifty-two patients were dichotomized as responder (pR+) or non-responder (pR-) according to their pathological tumor regression grade (TRG) as follows: 22 as pR+ (nine with TRG = 1, 13 with TRG = 2) and 30 as pR- (16 with TRG = 3, 13 with TRG = 4 and 1 with TRG = 5). First-order parameters and 21 second-order texture parameters derived from the Gray-Level Co-Occurrence matrix were extracted from semi-automatically segmented tumors on T2w MRI, ADC maps, and PET/CT acquisitions. The role of each texture feature in predicting pR+ was assessed with monoparametric and multiparametric models. RESULTS: In the mono-parametric approach, PET homogeneity reached the maximum AUC (0.77; sensitivity = 72.7% and specificity = 76.7%), while PET glycolytic volume and ADC dissimilarity reached the highest sensitivity (both 90.9%). In the multiparametric analysis, a logistic regression model containing six second-order texture features (five from PET and one from T2w MRI) yields the highest predictivity in distinguish between pR+ and pR- patients (AUC = 0.86; sensitivity = 86%, and specificity = 83% at the Youden index). CONCLUSIONS: If preliminary results of this study are confirmed, pretreatment PET and MRI could be useful to personalize patient treatment, e.g., avoiding toxicity of neoadjuvant therapy in patients predicted pR-.

Impact of a rectal and bladder preparation protocol on prostate cancer outcome in patients treated with external beam radiotherapy.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that a rectal and bladder preparation protocol is associated with an increase in prostate cancer specific survival (PCSS), clinical disease free survival (CDFS) and biochemical disease free survival (BDFS). PATIENTS AND METHODS: From 1999 to 2012, 1080 prostate cancer (PCa) patients were treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT). Of these patients, 761 were treated with an empty rectum and comfortably full bladder (RBP) preparation protocol, while for 319 patients no rectal/bladder preparation (NRBP) protocol was adopted. RESULTS: Compared with NRBP patients, patients with RBP had significantly higher BDFS (64% vs 48% at 10 years, respectively), CDFS (81% vs 70.5% at 10 years, respectively) and PCSS (95% vs 88% at 10 years, respectively) (log-rank test p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis (MVA) indicated for all treated patients and intermediate high-risk patients that the Gleason score (GS) and the rectal and bladder preparation were the most important prognostic factors for PCSS, CDFS and BDFS. With regard to high- and very high-risk patients, GS, RBP, prostate cancer staging and RT dose were predictors of PCSS, CDFS and BDFS in univariate analysis (UVA). CONCLUSION: We found strong evidence that rectal and bladder preparation significantly decreases biochemical and clinical failures and the probability of death from PCa in patients treated without daily image-guided prostate localization, presumably since patients with RBP are able to maintain a reproducibly empty rectum and comfortably full bladder across the whole treatment compared with NRPB patients.

Quality indicators in the intensity modulated/image-guided radiotherapy era.

PURPOSE: To propose new Quality Indicators (QIs) for the Intensity Modulated(IMRT)/Image-Guided(IGRT) Radiotherapy techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two structure, 10 process and 2 outcome QIs were elaborated. A working group including Radiation Oncologist, Medical Physicist and Radiation Technologists was made up. A preliminary set of indicators was selected on the basis of evidenced critical issues; the criteria to identify more relevant and specific QIs for IMRT/IGRT were defined; structure, process and outcome QIs were defined. The elaborated indicators were tested in four Italian Radiotherapy Centers. RESULTS: Fourteen indicators were proposed. Seven indicators were completely new while a new standard is proposed for four indicators based on Validation Centers (VC) data. No change was reported for 3 indicators. The indicators were applied in the four VC. The VC considered were able to respect all indicators except indicator 2 for one Center. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: QIs may provide useful measures of workload and service performances.