RYLIC plastics have been used extensively in the repair of skull defects 10.12 and have been tried not too successfully as replacement therapy for worn-out intervertebral discs, 2,'~ for internal fixation in fractures, and in arthritic spines?-4,7-9,n Dott of Edinburgh 3 mentioned his use of acrylic plastic in atlanto-axial subluxation from rheumatoid arthritis, and his associate Harris ~ has written of further uses including the fixation of fractures of the cervical spine. Clinical and aninml work has shown that acrylic plastic properly used is no more irritating than vitalium or stainless steel and that the heat of polymerization is a handicap only when in direct contact with delicate nerve structures or when uncooled by cold saline irrigation. With these facts in mind, it occurred to us that acrylic polymer might well constitute a rapid method of vertebral internal fixation or replacement in spinal metastatic disease where the patient has only a limited life expectancy and should not spend his last months immobilized in bed in casts or traction. This is a preliminary report on its trial in three such cases, plus confirmatory animal studies. Case Reports Case 1. A 59-year-old woman had metastatic breast carcinoma with lytie collapse of the ~nd cervical vertebra and cord compression. She was hospitalized on April 11, 1963. She had severe neek pain and pyramidal tract signs. There was also metastatic invasion of the skull, lower cervical spine, skin, and liver.

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