Extended V-Y latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap for anterior chest wall reconstruction.

Patients presenting advanced breast tumors are usually subject to major resections of the anterior chest wall tissue. Flaps taken from the abdominal wall, such as the TRAM, the external oblique flap, and the thoracoabdominal flap are frequently used for closure of this type of lesion. In this study, a different shape was planned for the skin island from the latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap with primary closure in V-Y for the correction of major lesions in the anterior chest wall after mastectomies occasioned by advanced breast cancer.

Refinements in transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap breast reconstruction: projection and contour improvements.

A surgical procedure with the transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous (TRAM) flap for breast reconstruction is presented using parameters from the opposite normal breast to achieve a better cone shape in the new breast to project the nipple-areola complex. This cone projection is obtained through a vertical plication of both skin/fat halves of the TRAM flap and with two supraumbilical fat flaps to avoid cone collapse. The infraclavicular and axillary regions are filled with a de-epithelialized "fish-fin" cutaneous-fat or fat-only flap, which is placed as a lateral TRAM extension.

Rat allotransplantation of epigastric microsurgical flaps: a study of rejection and the immunosuppressive effect of cyclosporin A.

The rejection of allotransplantation of epigastric microsurgical flaps and the effect of immunosuppression have been studied in 58 rats. Three sets of experiments were planned: (1) Wistar Furth isogenic donors and receptors (control set); (2) Brown Norway donors and Wistar Furth receptors (rejection set); and (3) Brown Norway donors and Wistar Furth immunosuppressed receptors (cyclosporin A set). Cyclosporin A (10 mg/kg/d) treated rats had a transplantation survival rate of up to 30 days: 83.

V--Y flap for perineal reconstruction following modified approach to vulvectomy in vulvar cancer.

Objective: To evaluate a simple reconstructive procedure used in combination with a modified oncological approach to the treatment of invasive vulvar cancer. Local and systemic morbidity, length of hospital stay, local recurrence, and mortality were evaluated.

Methods: Between September 1995 and January 1997, 19 patients underwent radical vulvectomy and inguinal lymphadenectomy with a modified oncological approach.

Pregnancy Following Breast Reconstruction with TRAM Flaps.

From a retrospective study of 250 patients submitted to immediate breast reconstruction with TRAM flap after mastectomy for breast cancer, we reported the occurrence of pregnancy in seven cases from January 1992 to January 1996 at the Women's Health Reference Center and at the University of São Paulo Medical School. There were six immediate and one delayed reconstructions. Mean age was 35 years old.