Matthias Hofer

Publications of Matthias Hofer

• Psychological aspects affect quality of life in patients with oral squamous cell carcinomas.

  Authors: Jörg Handschel, Christian Naujoks, Matthias Hofer, Gertrud Krüskemper

  Psycho-oncology. 02/2012;

  Quality of life (QoL) in head and neck cancer patients has been of increasing interest for some years. Unfortunately, only poor data exist regarding the impact of professional psychological supportQuality of life (QoL) in head and neck cancer patients has been of increasing interest for some years. Unfortunately, only poor data exist regarding the impact of professional psychological support on QoL. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate psychological aspects of QoL as well as the potential need for additional psychological treatment. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total collective of 1761 patients from 38 hospitals yielding 1652 patients' questionnaires containing 147 items was evaluated. QoL, impairments and psychological and surgical treatment were evaluated. RESULTS: Most patients had no psychological interview, and the majority of those who had an interview did not even want one. However, 17% of those patients who did not receive an interview wished to have one. When a psychological interview was performed, most patients (77.5%) evaluated this as helpful. Patients who wished to have a psychological interview but did not receive one showed a significantly worse QoL than those patients without a wish for such an interview. Moreover, having an interview, which does not meet the needs of the patients, diminishes QoL compared with not having an interview. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these findings emphasise the impact of psychological treatment at least on a significant number of head and neck cancer patients. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

• Cartilage quality in rheumatoid arthritis: comparison of T2* mapping, native T1 mapping, dGEMRIC, ΔR1 and value of pre-contrast imaging.

  Authors: Christian Buchbender, Axel Scherer, Patric Kröpil, Birthe Körbl, Michael Quentin, Dorothea Ch Reichelt, Rotem S Lanzman, Christian Mathys, Dirk Blondin, Bernd Bittersohl, Christoph Zilkens, Matthias Hofer, Hans-Jörg Wittsack, Matthias Schneider, Gerald Antoch, Benedikt Ostendorf, Falk Miese

  Skeletal radiology. 09/2011;

  PURPOSE: To prospectively evaluate four non-invasive markers of cartilage quality-T2* mapping, native T1 mapping, dGEMRIC and ΔR1-in healthy volunteers and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.PURPOSE: To prospectively evaluate four non-invasive markers of cartilage quality-T2* mapping, native T1 mapping, dGEMRIC and ΔR1-in healthy volunteers and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cartilage of metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints II were imaged in 28 consecutive subjects: 12 healthy volunteers [9 women, mean (SD) age 52.67 (9.75) years, range 30-66] and 16 RA patients with MCP II involvement [12 women, mean (SD) age 58.06 (12.88) years, range 35-76]. Sagittal T2* mapping was performed with a multi-echo gradient-echo on a 3 T MRI scanner. For T1 mapping the dual flip angle method was applied prior to native T1 mapping and 40 min after gadolinium application (delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage, dGEMRIC, T1(Gd)). The difference in the longitudinal relaxation rate induced by gadolinium (ΔR1) was calculated. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AROC) was used to test for differentiation of RA patients from healthy volunteers. RESULTS: dGEMRIC (AUC 0.81) and ΔR1 (AUC 0.75) significantly differentiated RA patients from controls. T2* mapping (AUC 0.66) and native T1 mapping (AUC 0.66) were not significantly different in RA patients compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: The data support the use of dGEMRIC for the assessment of MCP joint cartilage quality in RA. T2* and native T1 mapping are of low diagnostic value. Pre-contrast T1 mapping for the calculation of ΔR1 does not increase the diagnostic value of dGEMRIC.

• Nonvascularized iliac bone grafts for mandibular reconstruction--requirements and limitations.

  Authors: Jörg Handschel, Hirama Hassanyar, Rita A Depprich, Michelle A Ommerborn, Karl Christoph Sproll, Matthias Hofer, Norbert R Kübler, Christian Naujoks

  In vivo (Athens, Greece). 25(5):795-9.

  Treatment of intraoral malignant tumors often leads to continuity defects of the mandible. Whereas the use of free vascularised flaps has shortcomings regarding donor site morbidity and aTreatment of intraoral malignant tumors often leads to continuity defects of the mandible. Whereas the use of free vascularised flaps has shortcomings regarding donor site morbidity and a worse-fitting bone geometry, the nonvascularized iliac crest graft could be an alternative option. The purpose of this study was to describe the treatment outcome with nonvascularized iliac crest grafts over a 10-year period and to determine possible limitations of their use. Eighty-four patients with bicortical nonvascularized iliac crest grafts for mandibular reconstruction were examined at least one year after reconstruction. Patients' records and the radiological and/or surgical data were analyzed. Sixty-three patients (75%) showed complete healing, in 20 patients the treatment was not successful and in one patient the treatment result was unclear. Interestingly, comparing the successfully and the unsuccessfully treated patients, only the irradiation dose played a crucial role. Neither defect length nor defect localisation, nor time interval between resection and reconstruction were statistically significant parameters in graft success. Comparing only patients with malignancies, the non-irradiated patients had a higher success rate (77.3%). The nonvaslcularized iliac crest graft seems to be a reasonably reliable treatment option for reconstruction of mandibular defects up to about 5-6 cm in size. Radiotherapy is a strong confounder reducing the success rate. Necessary constraints are sufficient soft tissue conditions. However, primary reconstruction by free flaps (e.g. fibula flap) has a higher success rate in literature and should be preferred whenever possible.