Faculty Bibliography

Volume-based and surface-based algorithms for three-dimensional rendering of computed tomography (CT) scans of the human skull were compared in patients with craniofacial anomalies. Both methods were applied to a selected sample of 12 clinical CT studies. The number of sections ranged from 24 to 72 and the section thickness from 1.5 to 6.0 mm. Volume renderings were more prone to interpolation artifacts but captured the anatomy in greater detail. The sites of closed cranial sutures, visualized using the volume technique, were not demonstrated using the specific surface rendering technique used in this study. In both techniques the areas of thin bone appeared as gaps

The outcome of 29 patients who underwent lung resection for treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma from January 1976 to November 1988 was studied. Twenty-two patients underwent total resection for cure of all apparent metastatic disease, whereas seven patients did not undergo total resection. Of the 22 patients who underwent curative resection, the median survival was 11 months, with a 2-year survival of 13.6% and a 5-year survival of 4.5%. Four patients who underwent curative resection are currently alive and free of disease, with one patient surviving more than 10 years. The patients who underwent palliative resection had a median survival of 5 months, only one patient living longer than 10 months. The difference in survival of the patients who underwent curative resection compared with palliative resection was statistically significant. The thickness of the primary cutaneous malignant melanoma, the presence of regional lymph node metastases, the disease-free interval from primary diagnosis to metastatic pulmonary disease, and whether one or two metastatic nodules were removed during curative lung resection were not statistically significant in altering survival. These results demonstrate that although prolonged survival for metastatic melanoma is rare, lung resection in selected patients may be associated with long-term survival

The process of bone lengthening by cortical fracture and gradual distraction of callus has become well established in the enchondral bones of the extremities. In this study the principles of bone lengthening were applied to the membranous bone of the craniofacial skeleton using the growing dog mandible as a model. Six mongrel dogs five months of age were studied. A unilateral, periosteal-preserving angular corticotomy was performed, and an external minilengthening device was fixed to the mandible perpendicular to the corticotomy. After 10 days of external fixation, the mandible was lengthened 1 mm/day for 20 days and then held in external fixation for 56 days (8 weeks) after which all dogs were killed. Anthropometric measurements and histological analysis of the specimens confirmed that bone lengthening had occurred and that new cortical bone was formed in the expanded areas

An increasingly recognized although small percentage of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism have enlargement of two parathyroid glands. We have treated nine patients with primary hyperparathyroidism associated with such double parathyroid gland enlargement. In four of these patients, marked asymmetry of the two enlarged glands was noted and the failure to recognize and excise a second enlarged parathyroid gland resulted in persistent or recurrent hyperparathyroidism. In one of these patients, the second enlargement was present in a super-numerary mediastinal gland. The subsequent excision of the second enlarged parathyroid gland resulted in normocalcemia in each instance. This contrasts with five patients in whom initial excision of two enlarged glands resulted in normocalcemia with no recurrence of hypercalcemia. Only three patients fulfilled the histologic criteria of true double adenomas. The remainder showed multiglandular hypercellularity. This experience supports identifying all parathyroid glands and recognizing that even minimal enlargement of a gland may be important pathophysiologically, regardless of its histopathologic classification. Excision of both enlarged glands, even if asymmetric, is appropriate