Myxopapillary Ependymoma in an 11-Year-Old Patient With Right-Sided Nocturnal Thigh Pain.

ABSTRACT: This case report highlights a rare type of primary spinal cord tumor, myxopapillary ependymoma, in a pediatric patient who presented to clinic with worsening chronic unilateral thigh pain and neurologic deficits. He was appropriately treated with total gross resection of the tumor and adjuvant radiotherapy and was cleared for competitive sports without any restriction within 1 year of his diagnosis and treatment. Although most musculoskeletal complaints among pediatric patients are of benign etiology, as evidenced by our case, clinicians should have a low threshold to further investigate with advanced imaging modalities should the clinical history and examination be consistent with a more concerning pathologic process.

Differentiation of pilocytic and pilomyxoid astrocytomas using dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion and diffusion weighted imaging.

PURPOSE: Pilocytic (PA) and pilomyxoid astrocytomas (PMA) are related low-grade tumors which occur predominantly in children. PMAs have a predilection for a supratentorial location in younger children with worse outcomes. However, the two have similar imaging characteristics. Quantitative MR sequences such as dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion and diffusion (DWI) were assessed for significant differences between the two tumor types and locations. METHODS: A retrospective search for MRI with DSC and DWI on pathology-proven cases of PMA and PA in children was performed. Tumors were manually segmented on anatomic images registered to rCBV, K2, and ADC maps. Tumors were categorized as PA or PMA, with subclassification of supratentorial and infratentorial locations. Mean values were obtained for tumor groups and locations compared with Student's t test for significant differences with post hoc correction for multiple comparisons. ROC analysis for significant t test values was performed. Histogram evaluation was also performed. RESULTS: A total of 49 patients met inclusion criteria. This included 30 patients with infratentorial PA, 8 with supratentorial PA, 6 with supratentorial PMA, and 5 with infratentorial PMA. Mean analysis showed significantly increased rCBV for infratentorial PMA (2.39 ± 1.1) vs PA (1.39 ± 0.16, p = 0.0006). ROC analysis for infratentorial PA vs PMA yielded AUC = 0.87 (p < 0.001). Histogram analysis also demonstrated a higher ADC peak location for PMA (1.8 ± 0.2) vs PA (1.56 ± 0.28). CONCLUSION: PMA has a significantly higher rCBV than PA in the infratentorial space. DSC perfusion and diffusion MR imaging may be helpful to distinguish between the two tumor types in this location.

Comparative Analysis of Bibliometric, Authorship, and Collaboration Trends Over the Past 30-Year Publication History of the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma and Injury.

OBJECTIVES: In the scientific and medical field, authorship has become increasingly important for tenure and career advancement in addition to improvement in medical care. It was the purpose of this study to investigate changes in bibliometric variables, authorship, and collaboration trends in the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma (JOT) and Injury over a 30-year period. METHODS: A bibliometric analysis was completed for all manuscripts meeting the inclusion criteria and published throughout 1 representative year of each decade over the past 30 years. A total of 444 and 1105 manuscripts for JOT and Injury, respectively, met the inclusion criteria. Standard statistical analyses were performed with nonparametric methods for continuous variables and Pearson χ and Cochran linear trend tests for categorical variables. A P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: There were significant increases over time in all bibliometric variables for both journals, except in the number of countries and pages in JOT. For JOT, the overall percentage of female first authors increased 2.3 times from 1987 to 2015 (P = 0.021). The overall percentage of female corresponding authors was 7.3%. For Injury, the overall percentage of female first authors increased 1.5 times (P = 0.007). The overall percentage of female corresponding authors was 13.1%. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding changes in publishing characteristics over time and by region is critical with the rising demands of publishing in academic medicine. JOT and Injury have showed an increase in most variables analyzed. However, female authorship in JOT is climbing at a higher rate than Injury.