Venous obstruction of thyroid malignancy origin: the Antoine Lacassagne Institute experience.

Background And Aims: To show the benefits of Ultrasonography in the diagnosis of great vein involvement in the neck and mediastinum in thyroid malignancies (primary or secondary) in our experience and to report patient outcomes.

Methods: Clinical data were collected from the thyroid unit database of the Antoine Lacassagne Institute.

Results: Of 1171 patients with thyroid cancer treated at our institution over the last 18 years, we retrospectively identified nine patients (0.

[Percutaneous brachial access: a few simple considerations].

This letter is with regards to the recently published article by Vidal et al. in the Journal Français de Radiologie Médicale. A clarification of US and venographic techniques of brachial venous catheterization and related complications are presented.

[Papillary thyroid microcarcinomas: review of 230 cases].

Objectives: Papillary microcarcinoma (PMC) is one of the most frequent pathological forms of thyroid cancer Here, we describe the circumstances of diagnosis and the clinical and pathological characteristics of this tumour We also analyze the therapeutic management and compare it with the recent published guidelines.

Methods: Between 2000 and 2006, a total of 230 patients with a PMC of the thyroid gland were included in this retrospective study. We have investigated the correlations between some pathological parameters (plurifocality, lymph node invasion.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in patients aged > or = 80 years: patterns of care and survival.

Background: Scarce data exist concerning the outcome of very elderly patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Methods: The clinical files of 316 patients aged > or = 80 years with HNSCC who were included in the authors' hospital database between 1987 and 2006 were reviewed retrospectively.

Results: Approximately 88% of patients received locoregional treatment, 31% of patients underwent surgery, and 57% of patients received definitive radiotherapy.

Combined CT and fluoroscopic guidance of balloon kyphoplasty versus fluoroscopy-only procedures.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of combined (computed tomography (CT) and fluoroscopic) guidance of balloon kyphoplasty in comparison to fluoroscopic guidance alone.

Materials And Methods: Forty-one kyphoplasties were performed between January 2005 and March 2006 according to two different protocols. Study group 1 consisted of 20 consecutive patients with 20 balloon kyphoplasty procedures under dual guidance (CT scan and fluoroscopy) for osteoporotic or traumatic vertebral fractures.

Radical ablative surgery and radial forearm free flap (RFFF) reconstruction for patients with oral or oropharyngeal cancer: postoperative outcomes and oncologic and functional results.

Conclusions: Radical ablative surgery and radial forearm free flap (RFFF) reconstruction provide promising oncologic and functional results in patients with oral or oropharyngeal cancer.

Objectives: To assess the postoperative outcomes and the oncologic and functional results, with their main predictive factors, after radical ablative surgery and RFFF reconstruction for patients with oral or oropharyngeal cancer.

Patients And Methods: Between 2000 and 2006, we prospectively analyzed the postoperative, oncologic and functional outcomes of all previously untreated patients who underwent this type of surgery.

Prognostic factors in 1,038 women with metastatic breast cancer.

Background: Treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) remains palliative. Patients with MBC represent a heterogeneous group whose prognosis and outcome may be dependent on host factors. The purpose of the present study was dual: first, to draw up a list of factors easily available in everyday clinical practice requiring no sophisticated or costly methods and second, to provide results from a large cohort of women who underwent diagnostic and treatment at a single institution.

Central venous access: techniques and indications in oncology.

Long lines can be inserted centrally or peripherally through patent veins into the central venous system down to the atrial caval junction. Traditionally surgeons, anesthetists, cardiologists and more recently interventional radiologists have been placing them using vein cutdown or percutaneous needle puncture techniques. Typical candidates for implanted venous catheters are cancer patients undergoing long-term chemotherapy.

Free-flap head and neck reconstruction and quality of life: a 2-year prospective study.

Objectives: This prospective study was designed to evaluate quality of life (QOL) after free-flap head and neck reconstruction.

Study Design: Prospective study.

Methods: : Between January 2004 and December 2005, a total of 95 patients underwent microvascular reconstruction of the head and neck at our Institution (Centre Antoine-Lacassagne, Nice, France) and were initially included in this study.

Biocomputing: numerical simulation of glioblastoma growth using diffusion tensor imaging.

Glioblastoma multiforma (GBM) is one of the most aggressive tumors of the central nervous system. It can be represented by two components: a proliferative component with a mass effect on brain structures and an invasive component. GBM has a distinct pattern of spread showing a preferential growth in the white fiber direction for the invasive component.

Aggressive adenoid cystic carcinoma with asymptomatic spinal cord compression revealed by a "curtain sign".

The authors present a case of unusually aggressive adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck. The patient presented with sciatica one year after initial diagnosis. She was otherwise asymptomatic.

A comparison between distal and proximal port device insertion in head and neck cancer.

Aim: To compare technical feasibility and complications of radiologically arm port device implantation using arm venography exclusively (API-Group B) with chest port placement using cephalic vein cutdown (CVC-Group A), in advanced consecutive head and neck cancer patients (HNP).

Methods: Port device placement was attempted in 225 consecutive HNP. Decision for inclusion in Group A or B was made first by the availability of the surgeon/radiologist to perform the procedure, second by contraindications of each technique.

Is radiologic placement of an arm port mandatory in oncology patients?: analysis of a large bi-institutional experience.

Background: The objective of the current study was 2-fold: to evaluate a radiologically placed percutaneous arm port device (PRAPD) in a large series of 1000 consecutive cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy (in terms of safety, efficacy, complications, and quality of life [QoL]) and to propose future recommendations.

Methods: From 1998 to August 2002, all patients who had cancer required chemotherapy underwent insertion of a PRAPD and were prospectively included. All patients were followed for technical feasibility, overall device-related complications, and QoL.

[Upper aerodigestive tract carcinoma: therapeutic management].

Cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract cover the solid tumors of the oral cavity, pharynx and larynx. The principal risk factors identified are smoking and alcohol. Moreover, the combination of alcohol and smoking increases the relative risk by more than simple multiplication.

Aortic embolism of cement: a rare complication of lumbar percutaneous vertebroplasty.

An aortic embolus of cement occurred in a 72-year-old woman after lumbar percutaneous vertebroplasty for breast cancer metastasis. A CT scan during the procedure revealed cement migration into the aorta via the lumbar artery. The cement embolus in the aorta, along with the hook-shaped cement fragment in the lumbar artery, was asymptomatic.

Ultrasound-guided percutaneous radiofrequency ablation in elderly breast cancer patients: preliminary institutional experience.

Breast cancer is a major source of morbidity and mortality in the elderly population and the number of patients will increase by 30% in future decades. Surgery and endocrine therapy could be considered as the standard treatment in elderly breast cancer patients, but anaesthesia for surgery requires a specific approach taking into account physiological and psychological alterations secondary to ageing. In cases with major alterations of performance status, percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) could be substituted for the surgical treatment.