[Occult breast cancer discovered following breast reduction].

In plastic surgery, reduction mammaplasty is a common operation. The incidence of occult breast cancer detection is low but if diagnosed, consequences for the patient and the attending physician have a great impact. In this case, a 55-year-old woman complained of physical discomfort because of macromastia.

Radial tunnel syndrome: emphasis on the superficial branch of the radial nerve.

Reported success rates for decompressing the radial nerve in patients with radial tunnel syndrome vary between 10 and 95%. The combined treatment, releasing both the posterior interosseous nerve and the superficial branch of the radial nerve, has been described only three times, but seems to show more consistent success rates compared with releasing the posterior interosseous nerve alone. We present the results of decompressing the superficial branch of the radial nerve only, the anatomical basis for this approach and a description of the surgical technique.

Bleeding after excision of breast lumps.

Bleeding complications after excision of lumps in the breast are common and may be related to the prescription of heparin for prophylaxis of thrombo-embolism. Between I June 1997 and I January 2000, 206 lumps of the breast were removed in 186 patients. All patients received a low molecular weight heparin as a prophylaxis for deep venous thrombosis.

Ectopic bone formation after temporal muscle transposition for facial paralysis.

This report describes the case of a patient with congenital bilateral facial paralysis in whom ectopic bone formation developed following temporal muscle transposition. Ectopic bone formation was first noticed 4 years after surgery. Whether the ossification is a result of the transfer of periosteum or the osteogenic capacity of muscular tissue is still unknown.

Laparoscopic evaluation of patients with suspected acute appendicitis.

Background: High error rates are reported in the clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis. This study was undertaken to discover what additional value laparoscopy has in the diagnosis of suspected acute appendicitis.

Methods: From April 1995 to November 1996, a diagnostic laparoscopy, before open appendicectomy, was performed in 100 consecutive patients with suspected acute appendicitis.