Epidermoid Cyst of Orbit Requiring Cranialization of Frontal Sinus.

How often do intracranial epidermoid cysts occur?Is a coronary incision necessary?What are the steps of the procedure, difficulties encountered, and process for circumventing those difficulties?What is the follow-up protocol and outcome?

A Novel Method to Induce Cartilage Regeneration with Cubic Microcartilage.

Cartilage tissue is characterized by its poor regenerative properties, and the clinical performance of cartilage grafts to replace cartilage defects has been unsatisfactory. Recently, cartilage regeneration with mature chondrocytes and stem cells has been developed and applied in clinical settings. However, there are challenges with the use of mature chondrocytes and stem cells for tissue regeneration, including the high costs associated with the standard stem cell isolation methods and the decreased cell viability due to cell manipulation. Previous studies demonstrated that cartilage can be regenerated from chondrocyte clusters that contain stem cells. Based upon some of the existing techniques, the goal of this study was to develop a novel and practical method to induce cartilage regeneration. A microslicer device was developed to process cartilage tissues into micron-size cartilage (microcartilage) in a minimally invasive manner. We evaluated microcartilage sizes and demonstrated 100-400 µm as optimal for generating a high cell yield with collagenase digestion. In addition, autologous intrafascial implantation of the composites of microcartilage and an absorbable scaffold with a slow-release system of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was carried out to induce cartilage regeneration. Our results demonstrated that the extent of bFGF diffusion depends on the size of microcartilage, and that cartilage regeneration was induced most effectively with 100 µm of microcartilage via SOX5 upregulation. These findings suggest that cartilage regeneration is possible with microcartilage as a source of cells without ex vivo cell expansion.

Why does the corrective procedure of the ectropion work for repairing the entropion?

BACKGROUND: The accepted standard for the correction of involutional entropion has not been well established. This is our search for the reasonable answer for our dilemma. For the correction of involutional entropion, we have applied the modified Kuhnt-Szymanowski-Smith method. It brought the best result compared with other various procedures. METHODS: This report is a retrospective interventional case series of all consecutive patients with the lower-eyelid involutional entropion. They were operated exclusively by the same author with the modified Kuhnt-Szymanowski-Smith method, which was originally reported for the corrective procedure for ectropion. RESULTS: In total, 27 patients underwent surgical repair with the modified Kuhnt-Szymanowski-Smith method. There were 15 men and 12 women with a mean age of 77 years (range, 70-91 years). There was no case of recurrence following the primary procedure during 20 months of the mean follow-up period (18-36 months). CONCLUSIONS: From our experience, this is one of the procedures to be considered for involutional entropion. It is not only safe, simple, and effective but also requires short operative time.