Resections of the upper aerodigestive tract for locally invasive thyroid cancer.

BACKGROUND: In view of the indolent nature of most cancers of the thyroid, particularly of the papillary and follicular variety, the decision to remove a segment of the upper aerodigestive tract when the cancer is either close to or invading this area is a difficult one. It was felt relevant to review the experience at the M.D. Anderson Hospital to see when such resections were necessary, how they were repaired, and the survival rates. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Of the 1,098 patients with cancers of the thyroid treated surgically at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center from 1954 to 1993, 46 underwent resections of some portion of the upper aerodigestive tract for invasive cancer. These included 35 patients who had histories of prior surgical treatment with or without radiation or radioactive iodine therapy. The operations included 27 total and 5 partial laryngectomies, 1 circumferential and 13 partial resections of the trachea, and 5 circumferential and 10 partial esophagectomies. Several patients had combinations of these procedures. Details of the repairs are provided. Postoperative radiation or radioactive iodine treatment was administered when indicated. RESULTS: Local recurrence was infrequent. Most deaths occurred from either pulmonary metastasis or causes other than the cancer. The 5-year survival rate for all patients exceeded 50%. More than 70% of patients with papillary and follicular cancers survived for 5 years, and some for up to 30 years. CONCLUSIONS: Although it cannot be stated with any degree of certainty if a resection of a portion of the upper aerodigestive tract should be done at the time of the initial surgical procedure, it is apparent that there are some situations in which the resection should be done because of severe local problems A variety of methods of repair are available, and the survival rate is greater than 50% for all such procedures, with those having the papillary and follicular variety surviving for 5 years in more than 70% of cases. Patients can exist with severe local problems for a number of years and it is sometimes the patient who decides when the resection should be done.

Tumors of the nasal cavity occurring after hypophysectomy.

Olfactory neuroblastoma and malignant melanoma of the nasal cavities as second primary tumors after resection of pituitary adenomas in two patients are described. These cases, which seem to be the first documented in the literature, demonstrate the problems in diagnosis and treatment. Because of its rare occurrence, a second primary tumor may not be suspected when symptoms develop in the region of a previous hypophysectomy. A close follow-up after hypophysectomy for pituitary adenoma is recommended for the early detection of a second primary tumor. Pathogenetic considerations are discussed.

The infrahyoid musculocutaneous flap in head and neck reconstruction.

The infrahyoid musculocutaneous flap (IHMF), as first described by Wang in 1986, is mainly nourished by the superior thyroid vessels through the perforators of the infrahyoid muscles (i.e., sternohyoid muscle, sternothyroid muscle, superior belly of the omohyoid muscle). This thin flap, usually extending from the hyoid bone to the sternal notch at the central part of the anterior neck, provides a skin island of about 4 by 8 cm. After these muscles have been divided from their origins, the flap can be freely transferred on its pedicle of superior thyroid artery to cover the soft tissue defect created after surgical ablation of cancer of the midface, parotid region, oral cavity, oropharnyx, or hypopharynx. From April 1987 to October 1990, our department successfully performed this flap procedure in 22 patients (cancer of the buccal mucosa 8, lower gum 5, floor of mouth 2, tongue 2, lower lip 2, parotid gland 1, skin 1, hemangioma of buccal mucosa 1). Two were treatment failures, three had partial dermal necrosis (distal third of flap surface), and the remainder had no major complications. The donor sites were closed either primarily or by means of a small, local skin flap. Contraindications to the flap are previous thyroid surgery, radical neck dissection, irradiation to the anterior neck, and hairy neck skin. We believe our results indicate that the IHMF is a versatile, reliable flap that may be used in combination with other regional flaps, such as the pectoralis major flap. It obviates the need for a microvascular free flap in many cases.

Neck dissection for thyroid cancer.

Decisions concerning the extent of surgical treatment for thyroid cancer remain controversial. Limited surgical procedures, designed to remove only the cancer that is clinically evident, can be successful since the primary determinants in survival are age, sex, and histologic type rather than number of positive nodes or other factors. A retrospective review of 339 patients who had surgical procedures for cancer of the thyroid at MDA hospital from 1975 to mid-1989 did not show a conclusive advantage for any type of neck dissection. The operations were tailor-made to include all evident clinical cancer. Secondary procedures, such as surgery, radioactive iodine, radiation therapy were successful in treating recurrences, which occurred in all surgical groups, whether limited or radical.

Electrosurgical dissection to reduce blood loss in head and neck surgery.

We prospectively determined the intraoperative blood loss in 250 patients who underwent major head and neck surgical procedures over a 13-month period to demonstrate the efficacy of electrosurgical dissection for reducing blood loss and to determine those factors predictive of the need for blood replacement. Transfusions were required in 30 (12%) of the 250 patients, and a total of 66 units of packed red blood cells was administered. Two patients were transfused preoperatively, 16 patients intraoperatively, and 14 patients postoperatively. Factors predicting the necessity for blood replacement included the patient's preoperative hematocrit level, intraoperative blood loss, the duration and type of procedure, and the surgeon's level of experience. The principles of electrosurgical dissection are discussed.

Rationale for elective modified neck dissection.

A retrospective study was conducted to give surgeons direction in deciding which type of modified neck dissection is proper elective treatment for the patient with a clinically negative neck. The medical records of 428 previously untreated patients (seen between January 1, 1970, and December 31, 1979) whose necks (i.e., NO) were electively dissected and who had had a primary squamous carcinoma of the oral cavity, oropharynx, larynx, or hypopharynx were included. The three major types of modified neck dissections studied were the supraomohyoid, the anterior, and the functional. Sixteen percent (70 of 428) of the patients had multiple positive nodes and 6% (28 of 428) had evidence of extracapsular invasion. A unilateral supraomohyoid dissection was most often used for primaries of the oral cavity. Bilateral anterior dissection was common for cancers of the larynx and hypopharynx, and functional neck dissection was equally distributed among the primary sites. None of the patients with primaries of the larynx or hypopharynx had pathologically positive nodes in the submental or submaxillary triangles. Advanced T-stage was generally associated with a greater incidence of subclinically positive nodes. Thirty percent of the patients received postoperative radiotherapy. The total number of nodes removed, the number of positive nodes with or without extracapsular invasion, and the anatomic location of the positive nodes were correlated with the type of dissection, the stage and site of the primary cancer, the use of postoperative radiotherapy, the regional (neck) failure, and survival.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Neck dissection for cancer.

Control of metastatic disease in the neck is only a part of the spectrum of treatment of a patient with head and neck cancer. Concepts as to how to manage both the primary cancer and the possible metastases in the neck are constantly changing, and new combinations are being proposed almost daily. This article focuses mainly on the various surgical procedures that have been advocated in an attempt at controlling metastatic disease in the neck. The author has not considered the role of control of the primary cancer nor the significance of distant metastases in the rate of survival of patients with head and neck cancer. The frequency with which patients with cancer of the upper aerodigestive system develop second primaries indicates that we are only dealing with a portion of the problem. We have no way of reversing the premalignant changes that have probably developed in the epithelial surface of the smokers/alcoholics who constitute such a large percentage of the patients with whom we deal.

Clinical effects of closed suction drainage on wound healing in patients with head and neck cancer.

This study was undertaken to determine what optimal levels of suction pressure were necessary to provide good drainage volume and obliteration of any dead space and also to determine the prevalence of clotting and complications secondary to various levels of suction pressure. The patients were grouped by their degree of nutritional depletion, prior radiation exposure, the types of surgical procedures undergone, and the results of tests using four levels of suction pressure. Three of the suction pressure values were obtained with a wall suction and one was obtained using a portable closed system. All wall suction pressure levels were certainly comparable with the portable unit. However, the portable unit provided continuous suction pressure when the patients were ambulatory and was not associated with any statistically significant increase in wound complications or equipment failure.

Synchronous bilateral neck dissection.

The type of treatment used to control evident or possible metastatic cancer in the cervical region remains in dispute. When clinically positive lymph nodes are present in both sides of the neck, treatment to both sides is mandatory. If surgery is elected as the primary treatment, the neck dissection can be done bilaterally, either in one or two stages. Synchronous bilateral radical neck dissection has been associated with a high morbidity rate. It was the purpose of this paper to report the indications, complications, and results in a series of 179 synchronous bilateral neck dissections done between 1967 and 1979. In all except one instance, the internal jugular vein was saved on one or both sides. The mortality rate was 3.4 percent. Patients with histologically positive lymph nodes that were present bilaterally were found to have a reasonable prospect for cure. The rate of recurrence was related more to the inability to control the primary cancer than to treatment failure in the neck.

Role of parotidectomy for skin cancer of the head and neck.

Involvement of the parotid gland or periparotid nodes by direct extension from a skin cancer or metastasis from a present or previously treated skin cancer is an uncommon but potentially disastrous event. Aggressive surgery with sacrifice of necessary structures but preservation of the facial nerve and surrounding structures when feasible results in satisfactory local and regional control. The overall local or regional control rate was 70.9 percent. Isolated metastases to the parotid gland in patients with successfully treated nonbasal cell skin cancers are controlled locally or regionally in 84.2 percent of the 57 patients reviewed. The addition of radiotherapy should be considered in patients when warranted by the pathologic findings and clinical condition of the patient, however, it is not without complications.

Posterolateral neck dissection.

The charts of 17 patients who received postauricular, suboccipital, and posterior triangle neck dissection for primary malignant melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the posterior half of the scalp (behind the coronal plane of the tragus) or nape of the neck were reviewed. The regional procedure was applied bilaterally in five of these patients in whom the primary lesion was on or close to the midline. The low recurrence rate in the neck, in the absence of moderate or severe funtional and cosmetic sequelae, makes this regional neck dissection a sound procedure for selected patients.

Radionuclide scans not indicated for clinical stage I melanoma.

One hundred and sixty-two scans of the liver and 160 scans of the brain were performed upon 230 patients with clinical Stage I melanoma. No patient was found to have a true-positive scan. However, there were two false-positive scans of the liver and two false-positive scans of the brain. One craniotomy, two arteriograms and numerous follow-up scans were done to confirm that these scans were false-positive. The cost of the 322 screening scans was $23,964, and the expense of follow-up evaluation was considerably greater. The authors have discontinued the use of scans of the liver and brain in the evaluation of asymptomatic patients with Stage I melanoma.

Plexiform neurofibroma of the head and neck.

Ten patients with plexiform neurofibroma of the head and neck were observed at M.D. Anderson Hospital between 1956 and 1978. The clinical presentation and the long-term follow-up of the most interesting cases are presented. This is a chronic disease that causes cosmetic and functional deformity because of the size or the position of the tumor, or both. No patient exhibited malignant transformation. Because all of the disease cannot be removed, the surgical procedures should not be radical but should be designed to relieve symptoms or improve cosmesis.

Malignant melanoma of the scalp.

Malignant melanoma of the scalp has a significantly worse prognosis than cutaneous melanoma arising in other head and neck sites. In this series, 125 patients were treated for Stage I invasive melanoma of the scalp and followed 3 to 19 years. Survival rates for these patients were calculated on the basis of several factors. Survival after treatment was not affected by the age and sex of the patient, size and site of the primary, or treatment of the primary lesion, although local failure was higher among those treated by primary excision and closure. Patients undergoing elective neck dissection with histologically negative nodes had significantly better survival rates than those with histologically positive nodes or patients in whom a neck dissection was not performed.

Radical or modified neck dissection: a therapeutic dilemma.

Three hundred ten evaluable patients received a classic, functional, or spinal accessory-nerve-sparing neck dissection during 1970 to 1975. The functional procedure was at least equal to the classic procedure in the patients in whom it was employed. The spinal accessory-nerve-sparing operation is offered as an alternative to the classic procedure in all patients in whom the nerve is not directly invaded by cancer. If these guidelines are followed, the patient will rarely experience the pain and shoulder dysfunction that result from the loss of the trapezius muscle, while the chances of control of cancer in the neck remain optimal.

Changes in the adenylate energy charge of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and Nematodirus battus during the development of immunity to these nematodes in their host.

Infection of rats with 2000 infective juveniles of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and of lambs with 60 000 infective juveniles of Nematodirus battus results in a well-marked immunity to these nematodes in their respective host. There is a fall in the adenylate energy charge value of these nematodes during the course of these infections, reaching values of 0.37 in males and 0.27 in females of N. brasiliensis, and 0.31 in males and 0.23 in females of N. battus towards the end of the infections. In hosts given relatively small numbers of infective juveniles, the values for the nematodes removed from the hosts late in the infection remain at a relatively high level. These results indicate that the immune response of the host may affect the energy status of these nematodes, and this could help to explain their subsequent expulsion from the immune host.