Dental Silicone-based Surgical Guides to Harvest the Chimeric Scapular Flap: Preventing Iatrogenic Vascular Injury.

The angular branch of the thoracodorsal artery and the periosteal branches of the circumflex scapular artery can be easily injured while harvesting a chimeric scapular flap. Thus, we reported the use of 3D printed scapular models using CT angiography to prepare inexpensive surgical guides from autoclavable dental silicone impressions for scapular flap harvest. Mandibular and scapular models were prepared using a 3D printer for 11 patients undergoing chimeric scapular flap transfer following mandibular resection. During preoperative simulation surgery, we molded dental silicone accordingly with scapular models to produce surgical cutting guides. Six men (54.5%) and five women (45.5%) were included. The average age of patients was 65.4 years. Fourteen bone units were reconstructed as three patients needed two bone segments (27.3%) whereas eight patients required reconstruction of one bone segment (72.7%). The mean flap harvest time and total surgical time were 52.1 min and 633.8 min, respectively. The mean duration for osteotomies and bone plate fixation was 26.2 min. The difference between the length of the preoperative surgical model (64.92 mm) and the postoperative 3D-CT measurements (64.48 mm) was not statistically significant (0.95 mm, P = 0.397). No injuries were caused to the angular and periosteal vessels. Four patients exhibited donor-site seroma (36.4%). The cost of the dental silicone for surgical guide was only $5 per patient. Dental silicone-based surgical guides help minimize the risk of vascular injury while harvesting chimeric scapular flaps. The osteotomies were performed with precision and in a time-efficient manner.

Effect of early detection and treatment on malaria related maternal mortality on the north-western border of Thailand 1986-2010.

INTRODUCTION: Maternal mortality is high in developing countries, but there are few data in high-risk groups such as migrants and refugees in malaria-endemic areas. Trends in maternal mortality were followed over 25 years in antenatal clinics prospectively established in an area with low seasonal transmission on the north-western border of Thailand. METHODS AND FINDINGS: All medical records from women who attended the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit antenatal clinics from 12(th) May 1986 to 31(st) December 2010 were reviewed, and maternal death records were analyzed for causality. There were 71 pregnancy-related deaths recorded amongst 50,981 women who attended antenatal care at least once. Three were suicide and excluded from the analysis as incidental deaths. The estimated maternal mortality ratio (MMR) overall was 184 (95%CI 150-230) per 100,000 live births. In camps for displaced persons there has been a six-fold decline in the MMR from 499 (95%CI 200-780) in 1986-90 to 79 (40-170) in 2006-10, p<0.05. In migrants from adjacent Myanmar the decline in MMR was less significant: 588 (100-3260) to 252 (150-430) from 1996-2000 to 2006-2010. Mortality from P. falciparum malaria in pregnancy dropped sharply with the introduction of systematic screening and treatment and continued to decline with the reduction in the incidence of malaria in the communities. P. vivax was not a cause of maternal death in this population. Infection (non-puerperal sepsis and P. falciparum malaria) accounted for 39.7 (27/68) % of all deaths. CONCLUSIONS: Frequent antenatal clinic screening allows early detection and treatment of falciparum malaria and substantially reduces maternal mortality from P. falciparum malaria. No significant decline has been observed in deaths from sepsis or other causes in refugee and migrant women on the Thai-Myanmar border.

Relation of DDT residues to plasma retinol, alpha-tocopherol, and beta-carotene during pregnancy and malaria infection: a case-control study in Karen women in northern Thailand.

Populations living in endemic malaria areas maybe exposed simultaneously to DDT and malaria infection. DDT may impair status of vitamins, which are implicated in the immunity and pathophysiology of malaria. To explore possible interactions, DDT residues, retinol, alpha-tocopherol, beta-carotene and cholesterol were measured in plasma samples of malaria-infected pregnant women (cases, n=50) and age matched malaria-free controls (n=58). DDT residues were found in all samples: mean (sd) total DDT levels of 29.7 and 32.7 ng/ml in cases and controls, respectively. Mean (sd) p,p'-DDT was higher in the controls than the cases (13.5 vs. 9.5 ng/ml, p=0.006). Malaria infection was associated with lower mean (sd) plasma retinol (0.69 vs. 1.23 micromol/L) and cholesterol (2.62 vs. 3.48 mmol/L) compared to controls (p<0.001). Mean (sd) plasma alpha-tocopherol (7.65 vs. 15.58 micromol/L) and alpha-tocopherol/cholesterol ratio (2.3 vs. 6.7 micromol/L/mmol/L) were significantly lower among the controls (p<0.001). Mean (sd) plasma beta-carotene was low (<0.3 micromol/L) in both groups, but higher among malaria cases (0.19 vs. 0.15 micromol/L). Plasma retinol among the controls showed highly significant positive correlations with individual DDT compounds, particularly with p,p'-DDT (r=0.51, p<0.001). Plasma alpha-tocopherol and beta-carotene seemed not to be affected by DDT residues.

A randomized comparison of artesunate-atovaquone-proguanil versus quinine in treatment for uncomplicated falciparum malaria during pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: There is no safe, practical, and effective treatment for pregnant women infected with multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum. METHODS: We recruited pregnant Karen women in the second or third trimesters of pregnancy who had uncomplicated falciparum malaria for a randomized, open-label trial with a restricted sequential trial design of 7 days of supervised quinine (SQ7) versus 3 days of artesunate-atovaquone-proguanil (AAP). RESULTS: Eight-one pregnant women entered the study between December 2001 and July 2003; 42 were treated with SQ7 and 39 were treated with AAP. Fever, parasite clearance, and duration of anemia were significantly better with AAP; the treatment failure rate was 7 times lower (5% [2/39] vs. 37% [15/41]; relative risk, 7.1 [95% confidence interval, 1.7-29.2]; P = .001). There were no significant differences in birth weight, duration of gestation, or congenital abnormality rates in newborns or in growth and developmental parameters of infants monitored for 1 year. CONCLUSION: AAP is a well-tolerated, effective, practical, but expensive treatment for multidrug-resistant falciparum malaria during the second or third trimesters of pregnancy. Despite the small number of subjects, our results add to the growing body of evidence that AAP is safe for the mother and the fetus.

The effects of Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax infections on placental histopathology in an area of low malaria transmission.

Placental histopathology was studied in a cohort of 204 women living in an area of low Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax malaria transmission. Detection of malaria antenatally was active, by weekly peripheral blood smears, and all infections were treated. Significant histopathologic placental malaria changes (increased malaria pigment, cytotrophoblastic prominence, and presence of parasites) were found only in a minority of women who had P. falciparum infections in pregnancy. These changes were significantly more frequent in women with evidence of peripheral blood infection close to delivery and only in these cases were placental inflammatory cells increased. Antenatal P. vivax infection was associated only with the presence of malaria pigment in the placenta. All placental infections diagnosed by blood smear and 32.4% (12 of 37) diagnosed by histopathology were associated with patent peripheral parasitemia. This study indicates that prompt treatment of peripheral parasitemias during pregnancy limits placental pathology. The effect on birth weight reduction may not result from irreversible placental changes but from the acute insult of infection. These findings emphasize the importance of treating malaria in pregnancy promptly with effective antimalarial drugs.

Haematinic treatment of anaemia increases the risk of Plasmodium vivax malaria in pregnancy.

Nutritional deficiency and malaria are 2 major causes of anaemia during pregnancy in tropical areas. The relationship between anaemia, its treatment with iron and folate, and malaria was studied in a prospective cohort of 2112 pregnant Karen women on the north-western border of Thailand between 1993 and 1997. The development of Plasmodium vivax malaria was associated with a past mean haematocrit > 30% (hazard ratio = 1.5, 95% CI 1.2-2, P = 0.001) and recent (< or = 30 d) iron and folate supplementation (hazard ratio = 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.6, P = 0.01). There were no associations with P. falciparum infections. Plasmodium vivax has a predilection for young erythrocytes, and these results suggest that pregnant women with larger numbers of circulating young red cells are at greater risk of developing P. vivax malaria. In P. vivax-endemic areas, systematic iron and folate supplementation confers both benefit and risk in pregnancy.

The effects of quinine and chloroquine antimalarial treatments in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Quinine (n = 246) was used to treat uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum and chloroquine (n = 130) was used to treat P. vivax, in a total of 376 episodes of malaria in the first trimester of pregnancy, in 300 Karen women (Thailand, 1995-2000). Parasites were still present on day 6 or 7 in 4.7% (11/234) of episodes treated with quinine. The overall 28 day parasite reappearance rate following quinine was 28.7% (60/209) for primary treatments and 44% (11/25) for re-treatments. Quinine treatment resulted in a high rate of gametocyte carriage: person-gametocyte-weeks = 42.5 (95% CI 27.8-62.1) per 1000 woman-weeks. For P. vivax, the reappearance rate for all episodes by day 28 was 4.5% (5/111). Significantly more women complained of tinnitus following quinine treatment compared to on admission: 64.5% (78/121) vs 31.6% (59/187), P < 0.001. Using survival analysis, the community rate of spontaneous abortion in women who never had malaria in pregnancy, 17.8% (16.5-19.0), did not differ significantly from rates in women treated with quinine: 22.9% (95% CI 15.5-30.3), or chloroquine: 18.3% (95% CI 9.3-27.3), P = 0.42. Pregnancies exposed to quinine or chloroquine and carried to term did not have increased rates of congenital abnormality, stillbirth or low birthweight. These results suggest that therapeutic doses of quinine and chloroquine are safe to use in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Haemozoin as a marker of placental parasitization.

Both Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum malaria can cause the delivery of low birthweight babies. In this report, we have quantitated haemozoin levels in placentas from women living on the Thai-Burmese border in a region of low transmission for both P. falciparum and P. vivax malaria from June 1995 to January 2000. P. falciparum malaria infections during pregnancy lead to the accumulation of haemozoin (malaria pigment) in the placenta, especially in infections near term and in primigravid pregnancies. Haemozoin concentration was not associated with adverse birth outcomes. Women with P. vivax infections during pregnancy do not have measurable levels of placental haemozoin suggesting that P. vivax-infected erythrocytes do not accumulate in the placenta as much as P. falciparum-infected ones.