In the event of surgical management of metastases to the humeral shaft, intramedullary nailing (IMN) is often preferred to plate osteosynthesis (PO) fixation despite a lack of consensus. In this study, we hypothesized that plate osteosynthesis will be associated with better functional and pain outcomes, thus better quality of life. Eighteen patients with the diagnosis of humeral shaft metastatic fracture or impending fracture were extracted from a prospective database of 140 metastatic patients collected across three hospitals over a five-year period. Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) score, Toronto Extremity Salvage Score (TESS), Quality of Life (QOL) and Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) score were gathered during the year following the surgery. Statistical analysis was performed to compare the mean score differences between the two surgical options at baseline and five follow-up visits. Both treatment options were associated with an increase in functional outcomes based on both MSTS and TESS, and a decrease in pain level. However, no significant difference was found in quality of life and between the two treatment modalities. Thus, based on our results, a similar improvement in functional status and pain level can be achieved surgically by either intramedullary nailing or plating osteosynthesis.

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A slight decrease in publication rates from plastic surgeons occurred in Annals of Plastic Surgery, Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery from 2006 to 2016. Publications rates and author characteristics in plastic surgery journals provide valuable insight on plastic surgeons' contribution to contemporary scientific literature.

Case: We describe a case of 72-year-old male with dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma with osteosarcomatous and epithelioid (squamous) dedifferentiation. As first described in the literature by Dahlin and Beabout, a well-differentiated benign chondral lesion abruptly juxtaposed to a high-grade non-cartilaginous component is the classical definition of a chondrosarcoma [1]. The non-cartilaginous component is typically an osteosarcoma, fibrosarcoma or malignant fibrous histiocytoma with rare instances of leiomyosarcoma, giant cell tumor and rhabdomyosarcoma [2]. Conclusion: We report our rare instance of squamous dedifferentiation of a dedifferentiated chondrosarcoma along with other five cases that have been reported so far in the literature