To cure patients suffering from atlanto-axial instability following old fracture of odontoid process concomitant with stenosis of lower end of cervical spinal canal, a new operative method was designed. It included atlanto-axial fusion by Gallie technique and resection of right half of the laminae of C3-C7 spine at one stage. A female of 63 years old was treated. She was admitted with neck pain and numbness of the upper and lower limbs. A history of neck injury was noted in enquiry. In physical examination showed the sensation of pain of the upper limbs was decreased and the muscle power of the upper and lower limbs ranged from III degree to IV degree. The X-ray film and MRI suggested that there was instability of the atlanto-axial joint with stenosis of 4th-6th cervical spinal canal. The operation was satisfactory. After operation, the patient was followed up for 11 months. The physical examination indicated that sensation of the upper limbs had recovered to normal and the muscle power of the upper limbs reached IV degree and that the lower limbs reached V degree and X-ray showed bony fusion of the atlanto-axial joint. The conclusions were: 1. The stability of atlanto-axial joint was reconstructed with expanding of the spinal canal at the same time. 2. The duration, risk and cost of the therapy were reduced, and maintenance of the stability of the cervical spine throughout whole period of treatment was recommended.
In this paper, systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials and other relevant studies on surgical and adjuvant therapy following operative therapy in renal cancer were identified by searching the Guidelines International Network, ACP Journal Club, the Cochrane Library (Issue 3, 2005 ) , MEDLINE, EMBASE and CBMdisc ( from 1996 to Sept. 2005). In operative therapy, we found no study comparing operative therapy with no treatment or adjuvant therapy alone; A meta-analysis of cytoreductive nephrectomy in patients with metastatic renal cancer showed adjuvant therapy following nephrectomy was more effective than adjuvant therapy alone; a review comparing radical nephrectomy with nephron-sparing surgery in small-volume renal tumors found similar effectiveness between the two procedures. In the adjuvant therapy following nephrectomy, ten RCTs found adjuvant cytokine therapy (Interferon and Interleukin-2 ) and 5-FU not effective in the adjuvant setting, and could increase adverse reaction; Four RCTs found adjuvant vaccine therapy effective in the adjuvant setting with only a few side effects.