Rib cartilage grafting in upper limb surgery: an overview.

INTRODUCTION: Used routinely in maxillofacial reconstructive surgery, the chondrocostal graft is also used in hand surgery. The purpose of this overview was to analyze at long follow-up the radiological and histological evolution of this autograft, in the hand and wrist surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Since 1992, 144 patients have benefitted from a chondrocostal autograft: 116 osteoarthritis of the thumb carpometacarpal joint, 18 radioscaphoid arthritis, six articular malunions of the distal radius, four kienbock, and four traumatic loss of cartilage of the PIP joint. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was performed in 19 patients and histological study in 12 patients with a mean follow-up of 68 months (4-159). RESULTS: Whatever the indication, the reconstruction by a chondrocostal or ostochondrocostal graft has allowed us to obtain satisfactory clinical results at long follow-up. The main question was the viability of the graft. The radiological study has shown the non-wear of the graft and a certain degree of ossification. The MRI confirmed a very small degree of osseous metaplasia but its viability. The biopsies showed a neo-vascularization of the cartilage. CONCLUSION: Despite the strong mechanical strain in the hand and wrist, the chondrocostal graft is a biological arthroplasty, trustworthy and secure at long time even if it can cause infrequent complications inherent to this type of surgery. Despite the inevitable histological modification, the cartilage remains alive and is of satisfactory quality at long term follow-up and fulfilling the requirements for interposition and reconstruction of an articular surface.

Dermal equivalents in oncology: benefit of one-stage procedure.

BACKGROUND: In oncology, dermal equivalent may be indicated to cover losses of substance related to skin tumors or after the removal of skin flaps. OBJECTIVE: To report our experience of two dermal equivalents, Matriderm 1 mm with a one-stage graft (DE1) and Integra DL with a two-stage graft (DE2) in oncology. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Retrospective, single-center study involving 16 patients. RESULTS: Sixteen patients received dermal equivalents as an alternative to flaps (7 cases), over tendinous areas (7 cases), and for cosmetic purposes (2 cases). Twelve patients received DE1 and four DE2. Wound healing times with DE1 were 4 weeks less than those with DE2. Three cases of infection were noted with DE2. The use of dermal equivalents as an alternative to skin flaps was effective, and no adhesions were found over the tendinous areas. CONCLUSION: The learning curve, the two-stage graft required with DE2, and not using a vacuum-assisted closure system can explain the high infection rate. The use of dermal equivalents is particularly indicated in the treatment of skin defect in oncology. The possibility of a one-stage graft with DE1 and combination with negative pressure therapy is beneficial.

Preoperative imaging in the planning of deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap surgery.

Breast reconstruction with adipocutaneous free flap from the abdominal wall combines the benefits of abdominoplasty to those of a prosthesis-free breast reconstruction. The deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap is supplied by intramuscular perforators from the deep inferior epigastric artery (DIEA). It consists of the dissection of perforating branches of the DIEA within the rectus abdominis muscle, thus sparing both muscle and fascia. Preoperative imaging in the planning of DIEP flap surgery has been shown to facilitate faster and safer surgery. This review article aims to discuss advantages and drawbacks of current imaging modalities for mapping the course of perforating vessels in the planning of DIEP flap surgery, and to present state-of-the-art imaging techniques.

Rib cartilage graft for posttraumatic or degenerative arthritis at wrist level: 10-year results.

Background Posttraumatic arthritides of the radiocarpal joint, secondary to scaphoid nonunion advanced collapse (SNAC), scapholunate advanced collapse (SLAC), or Kienböck disease or in cases of intraarticularmalunion of the distal radius, are classically solved by some type of arthrodesis procedure. Osteochondral grafting provides a possible motion-sparing option that can diminish pain in the active patient. Description of Technique A chondrocostal graft harvested from the ninth rib was inserted and fixed with a plate in place of the articular defect in cases of a malunited intra-articular distal radius fracture (7 cases) or to replace the proximal pole of the scaphoid in cases of SNAC or SLAC (18 cases). In Kienböck disease, the graft was inserted as a free cartilage spacer (4 cases). Results Harvesting the graft from the ninth rib had minimal morbidity without pleural injury in the reported series. Graft union was achieved in all cases of fixation. No graft resorption or necrosis were observed on X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation at the longest follow-up of 10 years. Histological analysis performed at the time of plate removal showed the vitality of the graft. Two thirds of the patients had excellent or good results using the Green and O'Brien score. Conclusions Reconstruction of a partially destroyed articular surface using a costal graft is reliable and provides an alternative option for resurfacing the articular surface with viable cartilage.

[Traps in tendon and joint injuries at hand level]. / Pièges des traumatismes ostéo-articulaires et tendineux de la main.

The patient with an injury of the hand has unfortunally not choose the type of injury, the time and the medical doctor; this patient is not sick but injuried. Even if this is an open or closed trauma, begnin or not, the patient is going to discover dressing, immobilisation and time to recover function with a "new hand" .... Hand injuries have shown their impact on global function in case of inadequate treatment. After hand trauma, finding the right diagnosis and choosing the right treatment depend on the capacity of avoiding the traps.

[PIP breast implants: a series of 217 explants]. / Protheses PIP: à propos de 217 cas d'explantation.

On 29 march 2010, the French authorities (Afssaps) issued a health alert concerning breast implants manufactured by the company Poly Implant Prothèse, because of a high rupture rate. Marketing authorization was suspended and the use of PIP breast implants was prohibited. In our hospital department, 630 patients had received these prostheses since 2001. We conducted a retrospective study of all patients who underwent explantation between May 2010 and January 2012, corresponding to 434 explanted prostheses and 217 patients, all operated on by the same surgeon. Median age was 42 years and the prostheses had been implanted an average of 4 years 7 months earlier. We found that 38 implants (8.7%) had ruptured, in 33 patients (15.2%). Five patients had bilateral rupture. Preoperative ultrasonography, performed in 166 patients, detected 30 ruptures that were confirmed at surgery, but missed a further 9 cases (8%). Biopsy samples of capsular tissue were obtained in 103 cases, revealing granulation tissue possibly due to silicone exposure in 33 cases, 22 of which were associated with intact implants. Surgical complications included three hematomas, with no infections. Despite the low false-negative rate of ultrasonography, we recommend systematic preventive explantation, owing to the risk of silicone impregnation of capsular tissue even in the absence of rupture.

[Articular reconstructions by a costochondral grafting (or osteochondral costal grafting)]. / Utilisation du greffon cartilagineux (ou ostéocartilagineux) costal en reconstruction articulaire.

We describe a novel technique of costochondral autografting for the treatment of trapeziometacarpal arthritis, radioscaphoid osteoarthritis, malunion of the distal end of the radius, and osteoarticular loss of the MP joints of long fingers. The costal graft harvest technique is always the same. A 5-cm horizontal incision is made over the 9th rib, and the rib is exposed at the osteocartilaginous junction. Cartilaginous grafts are harvested with a scalpel, and osteocartilaginous grafts with a saw. Since 1992, 116 patients with trapezio-metacarpal arthritis have been treated by partial trapeziectomy and autologous rib cartilage grafting. One hundred patients were reviewed with an average follow-up of 5.6 years. The results were better than those of trapeziectomy with tendon interposition or ligamentous reconstruction, owing to good stability of the thumb ray height. For the treatment of radioscaphoid osteoarthritis following scaphoid non union or chronic scapholunate instability, partial carpal arthrodesis and resection of the first row are the classical techniques. As an alternative to these procedures, 18 patients were treated by resection of the proximal portion of the scaphoid and insertion of an osteochondral costal autograft. Mean follow-up is 4.1 years. The results are excellent or good in 15 cases, fair in 2 cases, and poor in 1 case (luxation of the graft). Four patients with articular malunion of the distal radius received an osteocartilaginous costal graft to reconstruct the articular surface of the radius while avoiding partial or total arthrodesis of the wrist. Four patients with segmental osteoarticular loss of the longfingers were treated with the same technique, thereby avoiding silicone arthroplasty. We review the literature on cartilaginous rib grafts in maxillofajcial and orthopaedic surgery. In our experience, MRI and biopsy show viable cartilage but also histologic changes such as revascularization, fibrous transformation and bone metaplasia.

[Neurectodermal differentiation of extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma: a classical feature?]. / Différenciation neurectodermique des chondrosarcomes extrasquelettiques myxoïdes: un classique?

Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma (EMC) is a phenotypically and genotypically distinct entity with a protracted course. A documented case of an extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma characterized by a t(9; 17) (q22; q11) translocation with a neuroendocrine and neural differentiation is reported.