Facial Transplantation.

Reconstruction of severe facial deformities poses a unique surgical challenge: restoring the aesthetic form and function of the face. Facial transplantation has emerged over the last decade as an option for reconstruction of these defects in carefully selected patients. As the world experience with facial transplantation grows, debate remains regarding whether such a highly technical, resource-intensive procedure is warranted, all to improve quality of life but not necessarily prolong it. This article reviews the current state of facial transplantation with focus on the current controversies and challenges, with particular attention to issues of technique, immunology, and ethics.

VA Telemedicine: An Analysis of Cost and Time Savings.

INTRODUCTION: The Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system provides beneficiary travel reimbursement ("travel pay") to qualifying patients for traveling to appointments. Travel pay is a large expense for the VA and hence the U.S. Government, projected to cost nearly $1 billion in 2015. Telemedicine in the VA system has the potential to save money by reducing patient travel and thus the amount of travel pay disbursed. In this study, we quantify this savings and also report trends in VA telemedicine volumes over time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All telemedicine visits based at the VA Hospital in White River Junction, VT between 2005 and 2013 were reviewed (5,695 visits). Travel distance and time saved as a result of telemedicine were calculated. Clinical volume in the mental health department, which has had the longest participation in telemedicine, was analyzed. RESULTS: Telemedicine resulted in an average travel savings of 145 miles and 142 min per visit. This led to an average travel payment savings of $18,555 per year. Telemedicine volume grew significantly over the study period such that by the final year the travel pay savings had increased to $63,804, or about 3.5% of the total travel pay disbursement for that year. The number of mental health telemedicine visits rose over the study period but remained small relative to the number of face-to-face visits. A higher proportion of telemedicine visits involved new patients. CONCLUSIONS: Telemedicine at the VA saves travel distance and time, although the reduction in travel payments remains modest at current telemedicine volumes.

Posterior semicircular canal dehiscence: CT prevalence and clinical symptoms.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of and symptoms associated with posterior semicircular canal dehiscence (PSCD) compared to superior semicircular canal dehiscence (SSCD) and nondehiscent semicircular canals (NDSC). STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective review. SETTING: Academic tertiary referral center. PATIENTS: Review of 412 temporal bone CT scans and associated patient records, excluding patients with prior mastoid or skull base surgery. INTERVENTION(S): CT images (0.625 mm thick) were reviewed in the planes of the semicircular canals. Patient demographics and symptoms were tabulated and analyzed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Prevalence of PSCD and SSCD; degree of hearing loss; presence or absence of aural fullness, autophony, tinnitus, pulsatile tinnitus, disequilibrium, vertigo, and Tullio phenomenon. RESULTS: Review of the 412 CT scans revealed 5 cases of PSCD (1.2%) and 20 cases of SSCD (4.9%). All patients with PSCD were male, aged 16 to 73 years. One patient with PSCD reported tinnitus, autophony, disequilibrium, vertigo, and Tullio phenomenon; 2 patients reported only tinnitus and aural fullness, and 1 patient had no symptoms. PSCD was commonly associated with SSCD. There were no significant differences in symptoms between PSCD patients and the other groups. There were, however, statistically significant differences between SSCD patients and NDSC patients in the rates of autophony, tinnitus, and disequilibrium. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of PSCD in patients undergoing temporal bone CT scans is considerably less than SSCD (1.2% versus 4.9%), and the 2 conditions commonly coexist. Given the small numbers in our study, we were not able to demonstrate any distinguishable clinical features for the PSCD patients.

Negligible effect of perioperative epidural analgesia among patients undergoing elective gastric and pancreatic resections.

BACKGROUND: There are conflicting data regarding improvements in postoperative outcomes with perioperative epidural analgesia. We sought to examine the effect of perioperative epidural analgesia vs. intravenous narcotic analgesia on perioperative outcomes including pain control, morbidity, and mortality in patients undergoing gastric and pancreatic resections. METHODS: We evaluated 169 patients from 2007 to 2011 who underwent open gastric and pancreatic resections for malignancy at a university medical center. Emergency, traumatic, pediatric, enucleations, and disseminated cancer cases were excluded. Clinicopathologic data were reviewed among epidural (E) and non-epidural (NE) patients for their association with perioperative endpoints. RESULTS: One hundred twenty patients (71 %) received an epidural and 49 (29 %) did not. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in mean pain scores at each of the four days (days 0-3) among the E (3.2 ± 2.7, 3.2 ± 2.3, 2.3 ± 1.9, and 2.1 ± 1.9, respectively) and NE patients (3.7 ± 2.7, 3.4 ± 1.9, 2.9 ± 2.1, and 2.4 ± 1.9, respectively). Within each of the E and NE patient groups, there were significant differences (P < 0.0001) in mean pain scores from day 0 to day 3 (P < 0.0001). Of the E patients, 69 % also received intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). Ileus (13 % E vs. 8 % NE), pneumonia (12 % E vs. 8 % NE), venous thromboembolism (6 % E vs. 4 % NE), length of stay [11.0 ± 12.1 (8, 4-107) E vs. 12.2 ± 10.7 (7, 3-54) NE], overall morbidity (36 % E vs. 39 % NE), and mortality (4 % E vs. 2 % NE) were not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS: Routine use of epidurals in this group of patients does not appear to be superior to PCA.

Negligible effect of selective preoperative biliary drainage on perioperative resuscitation, morbidity, and mortality in patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of selective preoperative biliary drainage (BD) on perioperative resuscitation, morbidity, and mortality in patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy. Biliary drainage prior to pancreaticoduodenectomy remains controversial. Proponents argue that it facilitates referral to high-volume tertiary centers, while detractors maintain that it increases surgical morbidity and mortality. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of single-institution tumor registry database. SETTING: University medical center. PATIENTS: From October 1, 2003, to May 31, 2008, 90 patients underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy for periampullary mass lesions. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinicopathologic data were reviewed and analyzed among patients who did and did not receive BD for their association with perioperative outcomes. chi(2) Analysis, independent-samples t tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used as appropriate. RESULTS: Fifty-six patients (62%) underwent BD, and 34 (38%) did not. Intraoperative bile cultures were positive for 1 or more species of microorganisms in 88% of stented patients (35 of 40). There were no significant differences in fluid requirements, transfusion requirements, or surgery duration between patients who did and did not undergo BD. Estimated blood loss was increased in patients who received BD (625 mL vs 525 mL in patients who did not undergo BD; P = .03), while reoperation was significantly more common in nonstented patients (4% vs 15% in patients who did not undergo BD; P = .02). Intensive care unit stay, overall length of stay, pancreatic leak/abscess/fistula, infectious complications, postoperative percutaneous drainage, hospital readmission, and 30- and 90-day mortality were not significantly different between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: Although preoperative biliary stents may complicate the intraoperative management and lessen the postoperative complications of patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy, only estimated blood loss and reoperation were significantly different in this cohort. Further study may reveal patient subgroups who may specifically benefit or suffer from preoperative biliary stenting. Currently, selective preoperative BD appears appropriate in the multidisciplinary management of patients with periampullary lesions.

In vitro characterization of a compliant biodegradable scaffold with a novel bioreactor system.

The influence of scaffold compliance on blood vessel tissue engineering remains unclear and compliance mismatch issues are important to an in vivo tissue-engineering approach. We have designed and constructed a modular bioreactor system that is capable of imparting pulsatile fluid flow while simultaneously measuring vessel distension with fluid pressure changes in real time. The setup uses a pneumatic PID control system to generate variable fluid pressure profiles via LabVIEW and an LED micrometer to monitor vessel distension to an accuracy of +/-2 microm. The bioreactor was used to measure the compliance of elastomeric poly(1,8-octanediol citrate) (POC) scaffolds over physiologically relevant pressure ranges. The compliance of POC scaffolds could be adjusted by changing polymerization conditions resulting in scaffolds with compliance values that ranged from 3.8 +/- 0.2 to 15.6 +/- 4.6%/mmHg x 10(-2), depending on the distension pressures applied. Furthermore, scaffolds that were incubated in phosphate-buffered saline for 4 weeks exhibited a linear increase in compliance (2.6 +/- 0.9 to 7.7 +/- 1.2%/mmHg x 10(-2)) and were able to withstand normal physiological blood pressure without bursting. The ability to tailor scaffold compliance and easily measure vessel compliance in real time in vitro will improve our understanding of the role of scaffold compliance on vascular cell processes.