Contribution to the surgical treatment of patients with cervical spine cord injury using simple procedures

Thirty-nine patients with acute cervical spine fractures and/or dislocations between C3 and C7 were submitted to an anterior approach using bone graft fixation without screw and plate systems and three required a preliminary posterior approach to reduce a dislocation. Graft dislodgement due to technical problems occurred at a rate of 7.7% postoperatively and 2.8% 1 month later. No redislodgement occurred. All fusions became solid after 3 months. Their progress was based on the Frankel scale, before surgery, at the moment of the discharge, and at 6 months follow-up. This experience shows how patients with an acute cervical injury can improve even when admitted late after trauma.     

Primary cardiac angiosarcoma. A therapeutical dilemma

Cardiac angiosarcomas are malignant tumors that almost invariably have a short and fatal evolution. The therapeutic approach includes surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, alone or in combination. Heart transplantation is an attractive option in nonresectable tumors, even though the current experience is still limited. However, in most patients, the diagnosis is still established late, and survival is only slightly altered by the proposed treatments, mainly due to previously existing and undetected metastases. We report a case that illustrates the therapeutic dilemma faced with this neoplasia, and we discuss the case based on a literature review.