Critical Assessment of Fellowship Director Gender and Ethnic Diversity across the Five Major Plastic Surgery Fellowships.

Background: Subspecialty fellowship directors are essential to the selection and mentorship of trainees. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the gender and racial/ethnic diversity of fellowship directors across fellowship programs in plastic and reconstructive surgery (PRS).

Methods: In December 2023, listings of fellowship programs/directors were surveyed from respective professional society websites across the 5 primary PRS fellowships: hand (American Society for Surgery of the Hand), craniofacial (American Society of Craniofacial Surgeons), microsurgery (American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery), aesthetic (The Aesthetic Society), and burn (American Burn Association).

Cost-Effectiveness of Parathyroid Cryopreservation and Autotransplantation.

Importance: Delayed autotransplantation of cryopreserved parathyroid tissue (DACP) is the only surgical treatment for permanent postoperative hypoparathyroidism. Studies suggest that only a small minority of cryopreserved samples are ultimately autotransplanted with highly variable outcomes. For these reasons, many have questioned the economic utility of the process, although, to the authors' knowledge, this has never been formally studied.

From Augmented to Virtual Reality in Plastic Surgery: Blazing the Trail to a New Frontier.

Background:  Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)-termed mixed reality-have shown promise in the care of operative patients. Currently, AR and VR have well-known applications for craniofacial surgery, specifically in preoperative planning. However, the application of AR/VR technology to other reconstructive challenges has not been widely adopted.

Investigating Weekend Effect in the Management of Upper and Lower Extremity Degloving Injuries.

Background: Weekend presentation has been associated with adverse outcomes in emergent conditions, including stroke, myocardial infarction, and critical limb ischemia. We examine whether a weekend effect exists in the management of and outcomes after extremity degloving injuries.

Methods: The cohort included adults presenting with open extremity degloving injuries to a tertiary level one trauma center between June 2018 and May 2022.

Magnitude of parathyroid hormone elevation in primary hyperparathyroidism: Does time of day matter?

Background: Parathyroid hormone demonstrates a circadian rhythm in nondiseased patients, but it is unclear if this diurnal variation persists in the context of primary hyperparathyroidism. We anecdotally noticed that parathyroid hormone levels drawn early on the morning of parathyroid surgery (preincision parathyroid hormone), were of lower magnitude than values obtained at later times in the day. If present, a time-of-day based variation in parathyroid hormone could have important clinical implications on intraoperative surgical decision making.

Toward a Consensus Aproach for Assessing Capsular Contracture Severity and Progression: A Systematic Review.

Background: Breast implants are the most commonly used medical devices in plastic surgery, and capsular contracture (CC) is one of the most common complications. However, our assessment of CC is based largely on Baker grade, which is problematically subjective and affords only four possible values.

Methods: The authors performed a systematic review concluding in September of 2021 in compliance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Analysis of Preoperative Predictors of Single and Multigland Primary Hyperparathyroidism.

Introduction: Preoperative differentiation of single-gland (SG) versus multigland (MG) primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) can assist with surgical planning, treatment prognostication, and patient counseling. The aim of this study was to identify preoperative predictors of SG-PHPT.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of 408 patients with PHPT who underwent parathyroidectomy at a tertiary referral center.

Integrating a Patient Decision Aid into the Electronic Health Record: A Case Report on the Implementation of BREASTChoice at 2 Sites.

Unlabelled: Patient decision aids can support shared decision making and improve decision quality. However, decision aids are not widely used in clinical practice due to multiple barriers. Integrating patient decision aids into the electronic health record (EHR) can increase their use by making them more clinically relevant, personalized, and actionable.

Behavioral Differences between Male and Hermaphrodite .

are microscopic nematodes used extensively as a model organism due to their simplicity, allowing researchers to study basic molecular processes in biology. Most are hermaphrodites, possessing two X chromosomes and the ability to reproduce asexually, but approximately 0.1% are males, arising due to a spontaneous loss of an X chromosome.