Rose, Peter

Aims The aim of this study was to achieve consensus for important topics related to periprosthetic infection (PJI) in orthopaedic oncology, and to identify areas for future research. Methods In January 2024, the Birmingham Orthopaedic Oncology Meeting (BOOM) held in Birmingham, UK, gathered 309 delegates from 53 countries to debate 20 consensus statements on PJI in orthopaedic oncology using a modified Delphi process. Results Of 20 questions and statements on PJI in orthopaedic oncology, none achieved unanimous consensus, 18 achieved strong consensus, one achieved moderate consensus, and one achieved weak consensus. The statements that reached consensus with notable agreement were on the prophylaxis of infection, management of leaking wounds, and surgical strategies for the treatment of PJI. Short-duration antibiotic prophylaxis was deemed as effective as longer courses for lower-risk reconstructions, and aggressive management was recommended for wounds draining beyond five to seven days to prevent deep infection. Furthermore, single-stage, two-stage, and 1.5-stage revision were recognized as valid strategies, with two-stage revision remaining the most reliable. The statements that did not achieve consensus were on the role of debridement, antibiotics, and implant retention and prolonged antibiotic use post-revision. Conclusion The BOOM meeting achieved consensus for important topics on periprosthetic infection in orthopaedic oncology, but highlighted the low quality of the underlying evidence. This study has provided recommendations for the treatment of leaky wounds, duration of postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis, and choice of revision strategy. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2025;107-B(12):1352–1359.

AimsThe Birmingham Orthopaedic Oncology Meeting (BOOM), held in January 2024, convened 309 delegates from 53 countries to discuss and refine 21 consensus statements on the optimal management of chondrosarcoma.MethodsWith representation from Europe (43%; n = 133), North America (17%; n = 53), South America (16%; n = 49), Asia (13%; n = 40), Australasia (5%; n = 16), the Middle East (4%; n = 12), and Africa (2%; n = 6), the combined experience of treating bone sarcomas among attendees totalled approximately 30,000 cases annually, equivalent to 66 years of experience in the UK alone. The meeting’s process began with the formation of a local organizing committee, regional leads, and a scientific committee comprising representatives from 150 specialist units across 47 countries. Supported by major orthopaedic oncology organizations, the meeting used a modified Delphi process to develop consensus statements through online questionnaires, thematic groupings, narrative reviews, and anonymous pre-meeting polling.ResultsStrong (> 80%) consensus was achieved on 19 out of 21 statements, reflecting agreement among delegates. Key areas of consensus included the role of radiology in diagnosis and surveillance, the management of locally recurrent disease, and the treatment of dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma. Notably, there was agreement that routine chemotherapy has no role in chondrosarcoma treatment, and radiological surveillance is safe for intraosseous chondrosarcomas. Despite the overall consensus, areas of controversy remain, particularly regarding the treatment of atypical cartilage tumours and surgical margins. These unresolved issues underscore the need for further research and collaboration within the orthopaedic oncology community.ConclusionBOOM represents the largest global consensus meeting in orthopaedic oncology, providing valuable guidance for clinicians managing chondrosarcoma worldwide. The consensus statements offer a reference for clinical practice, highlight key research priorities, and aim to improve patient outcomes on a global scale.Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2025;107-B(2):246–252.

OBJECTIVE Chordomas are slow-growing tumors derived from notochord remnants. Despite margin-negative excision and postoperative radiation therapy, spinal chordomas (SCs) often progress. The potential of immunohistochemical (IHC) markers, such as epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), combined with machine learning algorithms to predict long-term (≥ 12 months) postoperative tumor progression, has been understudied. The authors aimed to identify IHC markers using trained tree-based algorithms to predict long-term (≥ 12 months) postoperative tumor progression. METHODS The authors reviewed the records of patients who underwent resection of SCs between January 2017 and June 2021 across the Mayo Clinic enterprise. Demographics, type of treatment, histopathology, and other relevant clinical factors were abstracted from each patient’s record. Low tumor progression was defined as more than a 94.3-mm3 decrease in the tumor size at the latest radiographic follow-up. Decision trees and random forest classifiers were trained and tested to predict the long-term volumetric progression after an 80/20 data split. RESULTS Sixty-two patients diagnosed with and surgically treated for SC were identified, of whom 31 were found to have a more advanced tumor progression based on the tumor volume change cutoff of 94.3 mm3. The mean age was 54.3 ± 13.8 years, and most patients were male (62.9%) and White (98.4%). The most common treatment modality was subtotal resection with radiation therapy (35.5%), with proton beam therapy being the most common (71%). Most SCs were sacrococcygeal (41.9%), followed by cervical (32.3%). EMA-positive SCs had a postoperative progression risk of 67%. Pancytokeratin-positive SCs had a progression rate of 67%; however, patients with S100 protein–positive SCs had a 54% risk of progression. The accuracy of this model in predicting the progression of unseen test data was 66%. Pancytokeratin (mean minimal depth = 1.57), EMA (mean minimal depth = 1.58), cytokeratin A1/A3 (mean minimal depth = 1.59), and S100 protein (mean minimal depth = 1.6) predicted the long-term volumetric progression. Multiway variable importance plots show the relative importance of the top 10 variables based on three measures of varying significance and their predictive role. CONCLUSIONS These IHC variables with tree-based machine learning tools successfully demonstrate a high capacity to identify a patient’s tumor progression pattern with an accuracy of 66%. Pancytokeratin, EMA, cytokeratin A1/A3, and S100 protein were the IHC drivers of a low tumor progression. This shows the power of machine learning algorithms in analyzing and predicting outcomes of rare conditions in a small sample size.

OBJECTIVE Primary spinal osteosarcomas are rare and aggressive neoplasms. Poor outcomes can occur, as obtaining marginal margins is technically demanding; further Enneking-appropriate en bloc resection can have significant morbidity. The goal of this study is to identify prognostic variables for local recurrence and mortality in surgically treated patients diagnosed with a primary osteosarcoma of the spine. METHODS A multicenter ambispective database of surgically treated patients with primary spine osteosarcomas was developed by AOSpine Knowledge Forum Tumor. Patient demographic, diagnosis, treatment, perioperative morbidity, local recurrence, and cross-sectional survival data were collected. Tumors were classified in 2 cohorts: Enneking appropriate (EA) and Enneking inappropriate (EI), as defined by pathology margin matching Enneking-recommended surgical margins. Prognostic variables were analyzed in reference to local recurrence and survival. RESULTS Between 1987 and 2012, 58 patients (32 female patients) underwent surgical treatment for primary spinal osteosarcoma. Patients were followed for a mean period of 3.5 ± 3.5 years (range 0.5 days to 14.3 years). The median survival for the entire cohort was 6.7 years postoperative. Twenty-four (41%) patients died, and 17 (30%) patients suffered a local recurrence, 10 (59%) of whom died. Twenty-nine (53%) patients underwent EA resection while 26 (47%) patients underwent EI resection with a postoperative median survival of 6.8 and 3.7 years, respectively (p = 0.048). EI patients had a higher rate of local recurrence than EA patients (p = 0.001). Patient age, previous surgery, biopsy type, tumor size, spine level, and chemotherapy timing did not significantly influence recurrence and survival. CONCLUSIONS Osteosarcoma of the spine presents a significant challenge, and most patients die in spite of aggressive surgery. There is a significant decrease in recurrence and an increase in survival with en bloc resection (EA) when compared with intralesional resection (EI). The effect of adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapeutics, as well as method of biopsy, requires further exploration.

Background. Reconstruction of intrapelvic defects can be a challenging problem in patients with limited regional muscle flap options and previously resected omentum. In such situations, alternative methods of mobilizing vascularized tissue may be required.Methods. A case of a patient that underwent pelvic extirpation for recurrent rectal cancer who had limited donor sites for flap reconstruction is presented. The mucosa was removed from a blind loop of colon, and a pedicled seromuscular flap based on the colonic mesentery was placed into the pelvis for vascularized soft-tissue coverage and elimination of dead space.Results. The postoperative course was only complicated by a small subcutaneous fluid collection beneath the sacrectomy skin incision, which was drained with radiological assistance. The patient recovered without any major postoperative complications.Conclusion. Seromuscular colonic flap is a useful option for soft-tissue coverage after pelvic extirpation and should be considered by plastic surgeons when other reconstruction options are not available.

Introduction Symptomatic metastatic epidural spinal cord compression (MESCC) afflicts up to 10% of all cancer patients. MESCC is associated with shortened survival and worsened quality of life; thus, early diagnosis and management is crucial. In a multidisciplinary setting, life expectancy must be considered along with other factors, such as patient's symptoms and overall medical condition, to select the optimal patient-specific treatment plan. This study aims to identify and compare key survival prognostic factors in surgically treated symptomatic MESCC patients with a 12-month postoperative follow-up. Materials and Methods Over a 5-year period, 145 patients surgically treated for a single symptomatic MESCC lesion were enrolled in a prospective North American multicenter study. Univariate analyses, Kaplan–Meier methods, and log-rank tests were used to evaluate the prognostic value of various clinical predictors. Preoperative prognostic factors evaluated: age, gender, comorbidities, history of smoking, metastases outside the spine, site of primary tumor, previous systemic treatment for the primary tumor, MESCC location, number of vertebral body involved, previous MESCC treatment, ASIA score, motor deficits, bladder dysfunction, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), EQ-5D, SF-36v2 mental and physical components, and ability to walk four steps. Predictors with p < 0.2 in univariate analyses were included into the final Cox proportional hazards model. Results The overall median survival was 7.7 months (235 days). Lung and breast cancer had the shortest and longest median survival, respectively (4.5 vs. 12.1 months). Nine patients (6%), whose primary cancer were lung (3), kidney (3), melanoma (1), prostate (1), and breast (1), died within 30 days after surgery; 46 (32%), 61 (42%), 74 (51%), and 86 (59%) patients died at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, respectively. The site of primary tumor, number of vertebrae involved, ODI, EQ-5D, ASIA score, metastases outside the spine, bladder dysfunction, and ability to walk four steps were significant predictors on the univariate analyses. However, the multivariate Cox-regression analysis demonstrated that only spinal metastasis involving four or more vertebral bodies had a negative impact on survival ( p = 0.002, HR: 25). Conclusion The extent of spinal metastasis, which is regarded as an indicator of the severity of patient's metastasis burden, and the site of the primary tumor, although not statistically significant in our regression model but well recognized in the literature as an important clinical predictor, are considered as independent predictors of poor prognosis in patients with a single-level symptomatic MESCC lesion. MESCC patients are a challenging and vulnerable heterogenous population. It is essential to identify factors predicting survival, functional and clinical outcomes in this population to guide patient-centered management to optimize quality of life.

The resection of large pelvic tumors is challenging due to their infiltrative nature into multiple structures and organ systems. In this report, we describe the use of multiple vascularized and nonvascularized spare parts to reconstruct a pelvic defect in a patient with a uniquely large pelvic sarcoma invading the spinal canal. A 39‐year‐old Caucasian female who presented with a large retroperitoneal sarcoma where the tumor encased the left ureter, kidney, colon, and external iliac vessels and invaded the L3‐S1 vertebral bodies. An extensive hemipelvectomy and reconstruction was performed over two days. A free thigh and leg fillet flap together with ipsilateral fibula flap, based on the superficial femoral artery and venae comitantes, was used for spinal reinforcement as well as abdominal and pelvic wall reconstruction. The postoperative course was uneventful without complications, no flap compromise or wound healing problems. After a follow‐up period of 4 months, the patient had no complications and returned to activities of daily living with mild limitations. The success of this flap procedure shows the practicality and usefulness of using the full spectrum of tissue transfer for the purposes of a large pelvic reconstruction. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microsurgery 35:320–323, 2015.