Impact of Patient Subtype and Surgical Variables on Abdominoplasty Outcomes: A 12-Year Massachusetts General Hospital Experience.

Background: The traditional abdominoplasty is one of the most common surgical procedures performed. This study evaluates the impact of different surgical techniques and clinical patient factors on abdominoplasty outcomes.

Methods: A retrospective review of consecutive patients undergoing abdominoplasty was performed.

Low scar abdominoplasty with inferior positioning of the umbilicus.

Miniabdominoplasty with umbilical free float has received little attention in the literature in 15 years and has been criticized for an abnormally low umbilicus. We hypothesized the umbilicus in women presenting for abdominal contouring is positioned higher than ideal and thus may benefit from lowering. In addition, we felt modifications of the original umbilical float technique would improve aesthetic results.

Cultured human sole-derived keratinocyte grafts re-express site-specific differentiation after transplantation.

Cultured epithelial autografts (CEA) derived from sole skin were transplanted to full-thickness wounds excised to muscle fascia over a variety of diverse body sites in 12 pediatric patients treated for acute burns or giant congenital nevi. The skin regenerated from the grafts was biopsied from 7 days to 6 years after grafting. The resultant epidermal phenotype was analyzed histologically and by immunohistochemical localization of keratin 9 (K9) as objective evidence of sole-type site-specific differentiation.

Engineering a skin replacement.

Major skin loss from trauma or burns cannot always be replaced with the patient's own skin. An engineered skin replacement would restore the barrier function of the skin, remain permanently on the wound, and minimize late functional complications of wound contraction. Cultured epithelial autograft (CEA) sheets reproduce the epidermis' function and have been used in burn patients to close large wounds.

A socioeconomic analysis of digital replantations resulting from home use of power tools.

Forty-seven digits in 21 patients who sustained partial or complete amputations from the home use of power tools were replanted or revascularized during a 1-year period. This represented 69% of the microvascular surgery performed for hand injuries during that year. The cost of repairing an average of 2.