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Objective: To prospectively evaluate the incidence, risk factors and natural history of postoperative cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (pCVST) in translabyrinthine vestibular schwannoma microsurgical resection and propose a potential management paradigm., Study Design: Prospective, single cohort, multicenter study., Setting: State-wide academic tertiary referral centers., Patients: Fifty-four consecutive patients who underwent translabyrinthine vestibular schwannoma resection., Main Outcome Measures: Incidence of pCVST on postoperative imaging on Day 7, Day 28, and 12 months postoperatively. Patients and tumor characteristics, risk factors, length of stay, intraoperative parameters, complications, and follow-up were analyzed., Results: pCVST was demonstrated in 21 patients (38.9%) on postoperative imaging. All patients with pCVST were treated conservatively and remained asymptomatic in the immediate postoperative period and long-term follow-up. There were no instances of venous infarction, intracranial hemorrhage, or neurological deficits. A majority (61.1%) of pCVST recannalised on long-term follow up with conservative management. There was a statistical association with pCVST and surgery on the side of the non-dominant cerebral venous drainage (n = 17, 80.1%, p = 0.034). Patients with pCVST were significantly more likely to have a postoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak (n = 5, 23.8%, p = 0.017)., Conclusion: The incidence of pCVST following translabyrinthine vestibular schwannoma resection is much higher than previously recognized. pCVST is more likely to occur when surgery is performed on tumors situated on the side of non-dominant cerebral venous drainage. Despite the high prevalence of this iatrogenic phenomenon, all patients were asymptomatic and a majority resolved, thereby suggesting that conservative management is safe. Correlation between pCVST and increased incidence of CSF leak requires further investigation.

Purpose: To determine the epithelial phenotype in patients with a limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) after ocular surface reconstruction with autologous cultured stem cells. To correlate the epithelial phenotype with the clinical outcome., Methods: Six eyes affected by LSCD, verified and graded by impression cytology, were treated with an autologous fibrin-cultured limbal stem cell graft. The clinical outcome was defined as a "success" or a "failure," depending on ocular surface stability. To improve their visual function, 4 patients underwent lamellar or penetrating keratoplasty after the stem cell graft. The phenotype of the regenerated corneal epithelium was determined by immunofluorescence of the corneal button to detect CK12, CK3, CK19, and Muc1 as corneal and conjunctival markers., Results: After a mean follow-up of 24 months, 5 cases were defined as successes; 1 case presented an epithelial defect 4 months after grafting and was defined as a failure. Immunofluorescence performed on 4 patients after lamellar and penetrating keratoplasty confirmed the presence of epithelial corneal markers (CK12 and CK3) in 2 of the success cases and the presence of conjunctival markers (CK19 and Muc1) in the 1 failure case. In one of the success cases, both corneal and conjunctival markers were detected on the corneal button. All success cases showed maintenance of marker accounting for high proliferative potential (DeltaNp63alpha) after transplantation., Conclusions: Autologous cultures of limbal stem cells can regenerate a functional corneal epithelium in patients affected by unilateral LSCD. We showed a correlation between the clinical outcome and the molecular marker expression.

We evaluated whether type of response to the migraine-induction test with a nitroglycerin ointment applied to the frontotemporal head region could predict the efficacy of antimigraine therapy. Forty-two patients with migraine without aura underwent the test before and 2 months after antimigraine therapy. Two and 4 months after treatment withdrawal, most subjects with a negative response to the post-treatment test maintained treatment benefit, whereas benefit was lost in patients with an early onset migraine response.

Two clinical studies in donor sites and deep partial-thickness burns treated with banked cultured human epidermal allografts are described. Ten burn patients were subjected to donor split-thickness skin harvesting. The study was controlled, side-by-side comparative, blind, and randomized. Banked cultured epidermal allografts promoted a faster reepithelialization of the wounds; they epithelialized in an average of 6.9 days, whereas controls healed in an average of 11.1 days, giving a reduction of 37.8 percent in time to heal (p < 0.005). Allografted sites were less erythematous as compared with controls (p < 0.01), with more tendency to normopigmentation. In the deep partial-thickness burns study, 10 patients with 18 burned wounds were treated. Wounds treated with cultured allografts showed complete reepithelialization in about 3 to 6 days. The two clinical studies showed that banked cultured epidermal allograft promotes a significantly faster epithelialization of donor sites and deep partial-thickness wounds. These results support the idea that cultured allografts should be used routinely to improve treatment of burn patients and reduce their therapy time.

The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group conducted a prospective comparison of a compensated split course radiotherapy technique (300 cGy x 10, 3 weeks rest, 300 cGy x 10), versus continuous radiotherapy (200-220 cGy up to 6000-6600 cGy), in 137 evaluable patients. The complete response (CR) was 57% in 63 patients, treated with the split-technique vs 61% in 74 patients submitted to continuous course radiotherapy. The completion of therapy as planned was better in the split-technique, but acute and late tissue reactions were the same. Locoregional control of tumor at 5 years was 25% for split and 28% for continuous therapy. At 7 years this was 25% and 24%, respectively. Absolute survival in the split-course patients tended to be lower than in the continuous group, but when the sample of patients was enlarged by the addition of cases from similar trials of nasopharynx and base of tongue lesions, the survival difference was eliminated. On the basis of the results of this study we conclude that the stated compensated split-course technique gives equal clinical results as conventional continuous therapy, with the advantage of requiring fewer radiation fractions, and less burden on the patient and therapy facilities.

One hundred twenty-two patients with disseminated malignant melanoma were randomized using an unbalanced randomization to receive chlorozotocin, neocarzinostatin, or MeCCNU. Of the 114 evaluable patients, 46 received chlorozotocin, 47 received neocarzinostatin, and 21 received MeCCNU. The response rates to these three drugs were 9%, 4%, and 14% respectively. Median survival times were 4.2, 3.4, and 5.8 months respectively. Toxicity was acceptable with all three agents. Chlorozotocin and neocarzinostatin do not appear to offer any improved response rates over MeCCNU for patients with disseminated malignant melanoma.

One hundred forty-eight patients with advanced carcinoma of the urinary bladder Stages C or D1 were randomized between continuous-course radiotherapy (6,000 cGy in 30 fractions of 200 cGy each, over 6 weeks) and split-course radiotherapy (2,750 cGy in 10 fractions of 275 cGy each, over 2 weeks; a rest period of 3 weeks; 2,750 cGy in 2 weeks); 139 are analyzed in this report. Ninety-four percent of the patients have been followed at least 5 years or until death. The patients ranged in age from 45 to 80 with a median of 69. Seventy-six percent of the patients were males and 58% had Stage C disease. In patients with information on the size of the tumor, in 66% the lesion measured 5 cm or larger; 26% had a diameter of 8 cm or larger. In general, the treatment groups were well balanced with respect to patient characteristics. Both treatment groups tolerated therapy well. Eighty-seven percent of the patients completed therapy, 66% as planned. Fifty-four percent experienced at least one severe reaction, with the most common types being diarrhea (28%), frequency of urination (24%), soreness or burning on urination (25%), and urgency of urination (19%). Late effects of therapy were minimal. Median survival times were 11.5 months and 9.4 months for continuous-course and split-course, respectively. The treatment differences were not significant (p = 0.88; Mantel-Haenszel stratified by stage and sex). Forty percent of the patients became free of all clinically detectable disease following radiotherapy either alone or in combination with additional surgery (40% for continuous-course, 4% cleared by surgery, and 39% for split-course, 3% cleared by surgery). When the tumor measured less than 5 cm, the clearance rate was 61% (20/33) vs. 33% (13/39) for 5-7.9 cm, and 24% (6/25) for 8 cm or larger (p less than 0.01; chi2 test for linear trend). For those who became disease free, median time disease free within the irradiated volume was 72 months for continuous-course and is currently undefined for split-course; median time disease free was 28 months and undefined, respectively. There were no significant treatment differences in tumor control for any of these endpoints. The ultimate long-term tumor control in the pelvis was 28% (19/68) for continuous- and 25% (18/71) for split-course therapy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)