Antibiotic prophylaxis and infection resistance of massive tumor endoprostheses during chemotherapy.

Fifty-five consecutively treated patients with malignant bone tumors had preoperative and postoperative chemotherapy by one oncologist. These same patients had massive bone resection and cemented endoprosthetic bone replacement by one orthopaedic oncologist. Despite 143 instances of documented fever and/or neutropenia in 45 of these 55 patients, no known deep periprosthetic infections developed in any patient during follow-up (mean, 29.

Teachers' perceptions and actions in carrying out communication policies in a public school for the deaf.

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' opinions on school communication policies in a public school for the Deaf in Taipei, Taiwan. Specifically, the authors examined how teachers carried out communication policies, and examined possible discrepancies between teachers' perceptions of their communication methods and the methods they actually used in the classroom. Questionnaires were distributed to all 120 teachers at Taipei Municipal School for the Deaf.

Synovial sarcoma. Uniform response of metastases to high dose ifosfamide.

Background: This report describes the unusually high response rate of metastatic synovial sarcoma to high dose ifosfamide (14-18 g/m2) when that drug was used to treat 13 consecutive patients with recurrent metastatic synovial sarcoma before surgery (or thoracotomies) to provide optimal salvage therapy for these patients.

Patients And Methods: Thirteen patients with recurrent or pulmonary metastatic synovial sarcoma seen at the Cedars-Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center (Los Angeles, CA) from April, 1989 through January, 1993 were treated with high dose ifosfamide (14-18 g/m2). Ifosfamide was infused at the dose of 2 g/m2 over a 4-hour bolus infusion, followed by 2-g/m2 24-hour continuous infusions of ifosfamide, for a total of 14 or 18 g/m2 (6-8 days).

The role of thoracic surgery in the management of metastatic osteogenic sarcoma.

Fifty percent of patients with osteogenic sarcoma who develop pulmonary metastases are salvageable with continued effective chemotherapy and thoracotomies, as long as good local control is achieved in the primary tumor. In patients presenting with simultaneous primary tumor and pulmonary metastatic disease, the cure rate is potentially as high as it is in those patients who present with primary tumor alone. However, in the latter patients, curative surgery must be done to obtain permanent local control for the primary tumor, and thoracotomy must be performed to remove residual disease to ensure against recurrent disease.

Thoracotomy in the management of metastatic soft-tissue sarcomas in adults.

The multidisciplinary management of metastatic soft-tissue sarcomas in adults is capable of salvaging approximately half of the afflicted patients. This management includes preoperative chemotherapy for three months, thoracic surgery, continued chemotherapy, and the use of intrapleural mitoxantrone for once-present malignant pleural effusions or suspected pleural seeding of tumor. Thus, there is a definite role for the inclusion of thoracic surgery in the management of patients with soft-tissue sarcomas in whom pulmonary metastases develop.