This is a retrospective study to evaluate the outcomes and complications of combined treatment, surgery with or without adjunctive intraoperative radiotherapy, of locally advanced temporal bone squamous cell carcinoma. A series of 17 patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the temporal bone were treated between September 2002 and February 2007. Eleven patients had primary tumors, and 6 patients had recurrences. According to the University of Pittsburgh staging system, 5 patients were stage II (T2 N0), 6 patients were stage III (5, T3 N0 and 1, T1 N1), and 6 patients were stage IV (5, T3 N2b and 1, T4 N0). All patients underwent lateral temporal bone resection and pedicle flap reconstruction. Eight patients received intraoperative and postoperative radiotherapies, 4 patients underwent postoperative radiation alone, whereas 5 patients did not receive any adjunctive treatment. Median follow-up was 29.5 months. No major complications were observed. No patients were found to have residual gross tumor. Disease-free survival was 73.3%, and overall survival was 75.6%. Radical external auditory canal and/or middle ear canal resection is of utmost importance to obtain a good surgical outcome. Postoperative radiotherapy is necessary to obtain good local control; no major adverse effects were observed in the intraoperative radiotherapy patients. The incidence of major complication is minimal after pedicle flap reconstruction.
Early changes of irradiated major salivary glands can be noninvasively evaluated by IVIM-MRI. Perfusion-related coefficients in conjunction with dosimetric information increase our capability to predict the change in parotid volume and hence, if further validated, guide treatment strategy in RT.
Sterotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is an effective and commonly employed therapy for metastatic brain tumors. Among complication of this treatment, symptomatic focal cerebral radionecrosis (RN) occurs in 2-10 % of cases. The large diffusion of combined therapies as SRS followed by WBRT and/or CHT, has significantly amplified the number of patients who potentially might be affected by this pathology and neurosurgeons are increasingly called to treat suspected area of RN. Results of surgery of RN in patients with brain metastases are rarely reported in literature, a standardization of diagnostic work-up to correctly identify RN is still lacking and the timing and indications in favour of surgical therapy over medical treatments are not clear as well. In this retrospective study, we review current concept related to RN and analyze the outcome of surgical treatment in a series of 15 patients previously submitted to SRS for brain metastases and affected by suspected radionecrotic lesions. After surgery, all patients except one neurologically improved. No intra-operative complications occurred. Brain edema improved in all patients allowing a reduction or even suspension of corticosteroid therapy. Pure RN was histologically determined in 7 cases; RN and tumor recurrence in the other 8. Overall median survival was 19 months. An aggressive surgical attitude may be advisable in symptomatic patients with suspected cerebral RN, to have histologic confirmation of the lesion, to obtain a long-lasting relief from the mass effect and brain edema and to improve the overall quality of life, sparing a prolonged corticosteroid therapy.
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