Evaluation of Changes in the Pharyngeal Airway Space as a Sequele to Mandibular Advancement Surgery: A Cephalometric Study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate effect of mandibular advancement on pharyngeal airway space using lateral cephalogram. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients who were diagnosed with class II skeletal malocclusion and underwent surgical intervention for the correction of their dentofacial deformity following orthodontic treatment were included. The soft tissue changes in the pharyngeal space were brought about by the surgical intervention, and the changes that had occurred in increasing the airway were evaluated by using cephalogram. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that following mandibular advancement surgery, the pharyngeal airway space increased along with an increase in the length and thickness of the uvula with a reduction in the angulation. All the changes remained stable in the late postoperative phase. CONCLUSION: Patients who underwent mandibular advancement showed a significant increase in the pharyngeal airway space and that remained stable during the evaluation period. As a consequence, mandibular advancement seems to be the most stable surgical movement in relation to airway dimensional gains.

Nail relocation by nail flap in digital injuries.

In circumstances where the nail complex is intact and undamaged it may be wiser to relocate the nail as a flap based on its vascular supply rather than resort to pulp replacement procedures such as a cross-finger flap or similar techniques which leave a hyposensitive pulp and a "parrot-beak" deformity of the nail. In "acute" finger injuries this procedure is decidedly preferable to amputation through the head of the middle phalanx.

The brachioradialis myocutaneous flap.

The vascular anatomy and the cutaneous territorial definition of the brachioradialis myocutaneous flap has been studied by cadaver dissection and intra-arterial injection of methylene blue eye. A case is presented in which a proximal brachioradialis myocutanenous flap, based on the vascular pedicle arising from the radial recurrent artery just distal to the elbow level, was used to cover an exposed open elbow joint. The advantages and disadvantages of this flap are briefly discussed.

The use of prostacyclin in preventing occlusion of microvascular anastomoses by platelet thrombus: an experimental study in rats.

A pilot study was carried out to assess the value of Prostacyclin in presenting the occlusion of microvascular anastomoses by platelet thrombus using the femoral vein of the rat as the experimental model. This study showed a much higher patency rate in those anastomoses bathed in a solution of Prostacyclin compared with the control group. The difference was statistically significant. The use of Prostacyclin to prevent platelet thrombus occlusion in man requires investigation but may be limited by the short half-life of the solution.