Indocyanine green fluorescence angiography for free flap monitoring: A pilot study.

Objective: We evaluated the feasibility and the tolerance of repeated fluorescent indocyanine green angiography in free flap monitoring, and determined the intraoperative predictive values of flap vitality.

Background: The free flap failure rate has been significantly reduced, but free flap loss still occurs and remains a costly disaster. Repeated clinical examinations are commonly used for flap monitoring, but they can be unreliable because of their subjectivity.

Toward noninvasive assessment of flap viability with time-resolved diffuse optical tomography: a preclinical test on rats.

The noninvasive assessment of flap viability in autologous reconstruction surgery is still an unmet clinical need. To cope with this problem, we developed a proof-of-principle fully automatized setup for fast time-gated diffuse optical tomography exploiting Mellin-Laplace transform to obtain three-dimensional tomographic reconstructions of oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin concentrations. We applied this method to perform preclinical tests on rats inducing total venous occlusion in the cutaneous abdominal flaps.

[Tolerance and efficacy of lipomodelling as an element of breast symmetry in breast reconstruction].

Aim Of The Study: Fat transfer significantly improved results in breast reconstruction. Final breast symmetry is very important in breast reconstruction, but sometimes, the result is not perfect with usual techniques. The aim of this study is to evaluate the tolerance and efficacy of lipomodelling as a complementary technique for breast symmetrisation.

[Use of a free antero-lateral thigh flap for two-stage reconstruction of a large thoracic defect].

In case of extremely large thoracic full-thickness defects where no pedicled flap is available, very large free flaps are sometimes the only options. Dealing with such full-thickness defects where failure of the flap could be lethal, Servant and al described the concept of "two stage free flap" using Latissimus Dorsi muscular or myocutaneous flap. We present a reconstruction of a wide right posterior trunk radionecrosis with exposure of an underlying infected prosthesis using this two-stage free flap strategy with a fasciocutaneous antero-lateral thigh flap.

Perforator-based chimaeric thoracodorsal flap for foot reconstruction.

The reconstruction of severe defects of the ankle and foot is a challenge. The ideal solution should combine a thin skin flap on the dorsum to allow shoe fitting and a muscle flap with a split-thickness skin graft on the weight-bearing area. Perforator-based thoracodorsal chimaeric flaps allow us to achieve these two goals with minimal donor-site morbidity.

Vascular anastomosis using controlled phase transitions in poloxamer gels.

Vascular anastomosis is the cornerstone of vascular, cardiovascular and transplant surgery. Most anastomoses are performed with sutures, which are technically challenging and can lead to failure from intimal hyperplasia and foreign body reaction. Numerous alternatives to sutures have been proposed, but none has proven superior, particularly in small or atherosclerotic vessels.

Management of chest wall reconstruction after resection for cancer: a retrospective study of 22 consecutive patients.

Aim: In this study, we report our experience on immediate reconstruction after resection of primary or metastatic chest wall tumors, to restore protective function and elasticity of chest or sternum.

Methods: Between 2005 and 2009, 22 patients underwent reconstruction using a free or pedicled flap combined, or not, to alloplastic materials (Goretex®) in order to cover full-thickness defects of the chest wall after cancer surgery. Reconstruction was immediate in all cases.

Nasal tip haemangiomas: guidelines for an early surgical approach.

The treatment of Cyrano nose haemangioma (CNH) is difficult because of its location and possible complications: psychological impact, severe skin infiltration and consequences on nasal growth. We suggest that the best treatment for nasal tip haemangiomas is an early surgery to remove the affected tissues and preserve the anatomy. A total of 39 children (32 females and seven males) underwent early surgery for the treatment of CNH.

Pinch and elbow extension restoration in people with tetraplegia: a systematic review of the literature.

Purpose: We conducted a systematic review of the literature to summarize the available data on reconstructive surgeries involving pinch reconstruction and elbow extension restoration in people with tetraplegia.

Methods: English-language and French-language articles and abstracts published between 1966 and February 2007, identified through MEDLINE and EMBASE searches, bibliography review, and expert consultation, were reviewed for original reports of outcomes with pinch reconstruction and elbow extension restoration in tetraplegic patients after a spinal cord injury. Two reviewers independently extracted data on patient characteristics, surgical methods, and patient outcomes.

Mesenchymal stem cells can participate in ischemic neovascularization.

Background: Cells from the bone marrow contribute to ischemic neovascularization, but the identity of these cells remains unclear. The authors identify mesenchymal stem cells as a bone marrow-derived progenitor population that is able to engraft into peripheral tissue in response to ischemia.

Methods: A murine model of skin ischemia was used.

Maxillary and mandibular distraction osteogenesis in growing patients: lessons learned after 14 years and update on indications.

In the past decade, distraction osteogenesis (DO) has become increasingly popular and has opened new therapeutic perspectives for the treatment of numerous congenital and acquired craniofacial skeletal anomalies. However, DO mechanisms still remain unclear and different treatment protocols are applied by different groups. Here the authors use their 14 years-clinical experience to evaluate DO parameters such as maxillary and mandibular DO stability over time, especially in growing patients, DO effects on soft tissues and the correlation between the bone gain and lengthening capabilities of the device.

Using genetically modified microvascular free flaps to deliver local cancer immunotherapy with minimal systemic toxicity.

Background: Clinical use of cancer gene therapy has been prevented by the inability to deliver high levels of local transgene expression with acceptable host toxicity. The authors' laboratory has developed an ex vivo technique to genetically modify free flaps to deliver immunotherapy locally without systemic toxicity.

Methods: Superficial inferior epigastric flaps were dissected in Fischer rats, perfused with a viral vector expressing the antitumor interleukin-12 (IL-12) for 1 hour, and re-anastomosed.

Hypoxia, hormones, and endothelial progenitor cells in hemangioma.

Hemangiomas are the most common tumor of infancy, and although the natural history of these lesions is well described, their etiology remains unknown. One current theory attributes the development of hemangiomas to placentally-derived cells; however, conclusive evidence to support a placental origin is lacking. While placental tissue and hemangiomas do share molecular similarities, it is possible that these parallels are the result of analogous responses of endothelial cells and vascular progenitors to similar environmental cues.

Diabetes increases p53-mediated apoptosis following ischemia.

Background: Diabetes impairs the ability of tissue to respond adequately to ischemia. The underlying mechanisms contributing to this impaired response remain unknown. Because increases in apoptosis have been linked to a spectrum of diabetic complications, the authors examined whether programmed cell death is involved in the pathogenesis of poor diabetic tissue responses to ischemia.