MRI-Guided Focused Ultrasound for the Treatment of Dystonia: A Narrative Review

Contemporary surgical management of dystonia includes neuromodulation via deep brain stimulation (DBS) or ablative techniques such as radiofrequency (RF) ablation. MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is an emerging modality that uses high-intensity ultrasound to precisely ablate targets in the brain; this is incisionless, potentially avoiding the surgical risks of a burr hole and transcortical tract to reach the anatomical target. There is some evidence of efficacy in essential tremor and Parkinson's disease (PD), but, to date, there is no study aggregating the evidence of MRgFUS in dystonia. In this narrative review, we searched Medline, Embase, CINAHL, EBSCO, and ClinicalTrials.gov for primary studies and clinical trials on MRgFUS in the treatment of dystonia. Data were analyzed concerning dystonia phenotype, reported outcomes, and complications. PD-related dystonia was also included within the scope of the review. Using our search criteria, six articles on the use of MRgFUS in adult dystonia and three articles on the use of FUS in dystonia in PD were included. Four trials on the use of FUS in dystonia were also found on ClinicalTrials.gov, one of which was completed in December 2013. All included studies showed evidence of symptomatic improvement, mostly in focal hand dystonia; improvements were also found in dystonia-associated tremor, cervicobrachial dystonia, and dystonia-associated chronic neuropathic pain as well as PD-related dystonia. Reported complications included transient neurological deficits and persistent arm pain in one study. However, the evidence is limited to level-4 case series at present. MRgFUS is an emerging modality that appears to be safe and effective, particularly in focal hand dystonia, without major adverse effects. However, the quality of evidence is low at present, and long-term outcomes are unknown. High-quality prospective studies comparing MRgFUS to other surgical techniques will be useful in determining its role in the management of dystonia.

Thyroid Metastasis From Caecal Adenocarcinoma

The thyroid is a rare site of colorectal metastasis, comprising 0.1% of the surgical case series. A 62-year-old woman with caecal adenocarcinoma and previously surgically resected lung and liver metastases presented incidentally with a right thyroid nodule, which had grown and become symptomatic. Imaging revealed the nodule to have extracapsular spread, and cytology demonstrated metastatic adenocarcinoma. The patient underwent a technically challenging right thyroidectomy and neck dissection, with the final histopathological review demonstrating metastatic adenocarcinoma from a colorectal primary. The patient has subsequently undergone adjuvant radiotherapy. This case highlights an uncommon source of metastasis to the thyroid, which may aid clinicians to recognise and initiate treatment. It also highlights the technical challenges of performing surgery in such cases.

778 A Systematic Review of Surgery for Optic Pathway Glioma

Aim

Optic pathway gliomas (OPG) are a rare group of primary CNS malignancies usually found in children. The contemporary role of surgery in managing OPG is unclear. This review aimed to systematically assess the contemporary role for surgery in managing OPGs with respect to survival and functional outcomes.

Method

A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. A broad search strategy was employed in the literature search of the major medical databases. Articles describing OPG patients (stratified by modified Dodge classification (mDC) location) undergoing tumour-directed surgery were included, whilst articles with <10 patients, published before 2000 and describing individual case reports, opinions or secondary research were excluded. Primary outcomes were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), visual outcome and endocrine outcome.

Results

1221 articles were originally identified, with 21 included in the qualitative synthesis. There were 13 Level II and 8 Level IV articles. 5-year OS and PFS was 94.6% and 57.8% respectively (n = 2139). Total resection of mDC I OPG was curative, with no other surgical strategy being associated with survival benefit. Surgery was not significantly associated with visual or endocrine outcome, aside from preservation of contralateral vision (p < 0.001) in one series and predicting posterior pituitary dysfunction and GH deficiency (both p = 0.05) in one cohort.

Conclusions

Patients undergoing surgery for OPG have excellent overall survival, but a significant proportion have disease progression and associated endocrinopathy. Although total resection of mDC I OPG appears curative, more robust evidence is required to ascertain the surgical role in OPG.

123 Use of The Induction Mobile Application in A Busy General Surgery Department

Introduction

Contacting other hospital professionals, or accessing local guidelines is a common task for surgeons, which is usually facilitated by inefficient switchboard and intranet systems. Induction is a mobile application which includes crowd-sourced hospital directories and local guidelines, which could theoretically expedite these tasks. To assess this, we undertook a QIP within the General Surgery department using a bespoke Induction group.

Method

A private Induction group was created with the features mentioned above. We audited Induction against local trust processes (Switchboard and Intranet Trust Guidelines). We estimated cost saving using the 2019 junior doctor pay-scales. We also surveyed our department to evaluate their experiences using the application with a Likert scale.

Results

The timesaving from using Induction compared to current methods was on average 9.93 hours/week accumulated by 16 staff members, giving an estimated cost saving of £10,636.54/year. In a qualitative analysis, respondents rated Induction 4.8/5 for speed and 3.4/5 for completeness of directory, compared to 1.5/5 and 4.5/5 respectively for switchboard. Regarding accessing clinical guidelines, respondents rated the app as ‘easier’ and ‘quicker’ than the intranet.

Conclusions

We have demonstrated significant time and cost-savings using Induction compared to standard practices. Our QIP provides a replicable model to increase efficiency in surgery departments.