Pollicization of the Index Finger in the Treatment of Thumb Hypoplasia.

Pollicization of the index finger allows to reconstruct the hand's ability to pinch and grasp. It has been broadly used to address traumatic loss of the thumb. Today it is the procedure of choice for severe congenital thumb hypoplasia. It allows children prehension of small and large objects and gives the hand a more normal appearance. This is a demanding technique with well-defined and perfected steps that, if carefully performed, can minimize complications.

Barriers in Latin America for the management of locally advanced breast cancer.

Breast cancer (BC) is a highly prevalent malignancy in Latin American women, most cases being diagnosed at locally advanced or metastatic stages when options for cancer care are limited. Despite its label as a public health problem in the region, Latin American BC patients face several barriers in accessing standard of care treatment when compared with patients from developed countries. In this review, we analyse the landscape of the four main identified barriers in the region: i) high burden of locally advanced/advanced BC; ii) inadequate access to medical resources; iii) deficient access to specialised cancer care and iv) insufficient BC research in Latin America. Unfortunately, these barriers represent the main factors associated with the BC poor outcomes seen in the region. Targeted actions should be conducted independently by each country and as a region to overcome these limitations and create an enhanced model of BC care.

Pulgarización del índice en el tratamiento de la hipoplasia de pulgar: técnica quirúrgica / Index finger pollicization in the treatment of thumb hypoplasia: surgical technique

La pulgarización del dedo índice permite reconstruir la pinza de la mano. Fue ampliamente realizada para una reconstrucción de una pérdida de pulgar en condiciones de trauma. Sin embargo, hoy por hoy, es la técnica de elección para las hipoplasias congénitas de pulgar. En los niños permite crear una pinza, especialmente para objetos grandes y entrega una apariencia más normal de la mano. Es una técnica demandante, pero con pasos que están bien definidos y perfeccionados, que al ser realizados de forma cuidadosa, reducen al mínimo sus complicaciones.

The pollicization of the index finger allows reconstructing the hand's ability to pinch. It has been broadly used to address traumatic loss of the thumb. However today it is the procedure of choice for severe congenital thumb hypoplasia. It allows children to pinch, particularly large objects, it also gives the hand a more normal appearance. It is a demanding procedure, with a series of technical steps that are well defined and perfected, such that if they are performed in a careful way, complications are minimized.