Dermatologic Biopsy of Silicone Nasal Implant and Revision Rhinoplasty in the Asian Patient, A Cautionary Report.

Care provided to the Asian rhinoplasty patient may be multidisciplinary at times, including not only plastic surgeons, but also other health care professionals. It is crucial that all physicians caring for these patients practice complete awareness of the patient's prior operations and details of materials used in order to optimize results and avoid potentially devastating complications. These complications include but are not limited to implant infection and extrusion. Here the authors describe one such case report, discussing dermatologic biopsy of a silicone implant of the nasal tip and dorsum and subsequent revision rhinoplasty with implant removal and costochondral graft placement.

Prolonged Bleeding after a Single Leech Application in Pediatric Hand Surgery.

Use of the medicinal leech in microsurgery is common place for venous decongestion and can be associated with the need for transfusion over time and multiple applications. Here the authors present a case of profound, ongoing, life-threatening bleeding after a single leech application in pediatric microscopic surgery. There are no reports of such profound bleeding in the literature, and this case serves as a warning of the need for close surveillance in this subset of patients.

Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator Free Flaps for Use in Complicated Groin Wound Repair: A Case Report of Severe Groin Scar Contracture and Review of Pedicled and Free Flaps in Groin Wound Repair.

The use of pedicled and free flaps for tissue transfer and coverage has become a common practice in modern plastic surgery. An area that presents considerable challenge for tissue coverage is the groin. Defects in this area are complicated by issues such as prior surgery; scar contracture; extension of the defect beyond the borders of the groin; radiation damage; high probability of infection; and involvement of vital underlying structures, the genitalia, and perineal and perianal area. Therefore, the choice of donor site and flap usage is often difficult. Multiple methods of tissue transfer closure have been reported in the literature for repair of such defects and are reviewed in the following text. Here the authors present the case of a 30-year-old Caucasian woman born with a congenital giant hairy nevus of her left lower back, buttock, posterior thigh, and flank, who underwent wide local excision and skin grafting as a newborn. After several operations, the closure broke down and was left to heal by secondary intention. She has since developed excessive scar tissue leading to pain with ambulation secondary to scar contracture involving her labia majora. In this report, the wound was repaired with a free DIEP flap with excellent result and resolution of all symptoms.

Repeated Elevation of the Anterolateral Thigh Flap for Lower Extremity Orthopedic Trauma Does Not Affect Flap Viability.

BACKGROUND: The anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap has a key role regarding limb salvage and has facilitated the preservation of function and esthetics in lower extremity reconstruction. The purpose of this study is to review the advantages of the ALT flap when used early in the reconstruction of the trauma patient; specifically, its long-term viability when ALT flap reconstruction is followed by recurrent flap elevation performed to allow a variety of sequential orthopedic operations including washout, antimicrobial disc placement, and reinstrumentation. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed to review all ALT flaps performed by the authors from January 2009 to October 2012 at the Orlando Regional Medical Center. A total of 69 patients with an average age of 38 years were included in the study leading to a total of 69 ALT flaps indicated for traumatic orthopedic wounds. Out of these, 29 flaps were elevated at least once leading to a total of 49 flap elevations. RESULTS: The median number of days to flap elevation was 117 with a minimum of 1 day and a maximum of 540 days. A total of 42% flaps were elevated at least once after initial placement for reinstrumentation, washout, or antibiotic disk placement. Overall, 52% of the flaps were lifted once, 34% were lifted twice, and 14% were lifted more than thrice. There is no statistically significant difference in the complication rate between elevating the flap compared with primary ALT placement. CONCLUSION: We conclude, therefore, there is no elevated risk to long-term viability by elevating the ALT flap. This combined with the ease of elevation makes it a safe procedure to be performed as needed for access to the deep tissues.

Heart valve development, maintenance, and disease: the role of endothelial cells.

Heart valves are dynamic structures that open and close during the cardiac cycle to maintain unidirectional blood flow throughout life. Insufficient valve function, commonly due to congenital malformations leads to disruptions in hemodynamics and eventual heart failure. Mature valve leaflets are composed of a heterogeneous population of interstitial cells and stratified extracellular matrix, surrounded by a layer of endothelial cells. This defined connective tissue "architecture" provides the valve with all the necessary biomechanical properties required to efficiently function while withstanding constant cyclic shear stress. Valvular endothelial cells (VECs) play essential roles in establishing the valve structures during embryonic development and are important for maintaining lifelong valve integrity and function. In contrast to a continuous endothelium over the surface of healthy valve leaflets, VEC disruption is commonly observed in malfunctioning valves and is associated with pathological processes that promote valve sclerosis and calcification. Increasing our understanding of the roles of VECs in development and disease has lead to promising advances in the development of endothelial cell-based therapies for treating valve disease.

Decreased number of interneurons and increased seizures in neuropilin 2 deficient mice: implications for autism and epilepsy.

PURPOSE: Clinically, perturbations in the semaphorin signaling system have been associated with autism and epilepsy. The semaphorins have been implicated in guidance, migration, differentiation, and synaptic plasticity of neurons. The semaphorin 3F (Sema3F) ligand and its receptor, neuropilin 2 (NPN2) are highly expressed within limbic areas. NPN2 signaling may intimately direct the apposition of presynaptic and postsynaptic locations, facilitating the development and maturity of hippocampal synaptic function. To further understand the role of NPN2 signaling in central nevous system (CNS) plasticity, structural and functional alterations were assessed in NPN2 deficient mice. METHODS: In NPN2 deficient mice, we measured seizure susceptibility after kainic acid or pentylenetetrazol, neuronal excitability and synaptic throughput in slice preparations, principal and interneuron cell counts with immunocytochemical protocols, synaptosomal protein levels with immunoblots, and dendritic morphology with Golgi-staining. RESULTS: NPN2 deficient mice had shorter seizure latencies, increased vulnerability to seizure-related death, were more likely to develop spontaneous recurrent seizure activity after chemical challenge, and had an increased slope on input/output curves. Principal cell counts were unchanged, but GABA, parvalbumin, and neuropeptide Y interneuron cell counts were significantly reduced. Synaptosomal NPN2 protein levels and total number of GABAergic synapses were decreased in a gene dose-dependent fashion. CA1 pyramidal cells showed reduced dendritic length and complexity, as well as an increased number of dendritic spines. DISCUSSION: These data suggest the novel hypothesis that the Sema 3F signaling system's role in appropriate placement of subsets of hippocampal interneurons has critical downstream consequences for hippocampal function, resulting in a more seizure susceptible phenotype.