Mesenteric lymph flow in endotoxemic guinea pigs.

Background: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a structural component of the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria. LPS activates the host cells, leading to the production and release of proinflammatory cytokines. Given the induction duration for the release of cytokines, the initial mechanisms that produce LPS action on a timescale of minutes are not fully understood.

Anatomical study of pectoral intercostal perforators and clinical study of the pectoral intercostal perforator flap for hand reconstruction.

Background: The authors have used pectoral intercostal perforator flaps to reconstruct burned or injured hands by staged transfer. This flap is designed with a narrow skin pedicle that includes intercostal perforators from the fifth to eighth intercostal spaces, with a wide flap area that lies on the upper abdomen. The distal area is thinned down to the subdermal vascular network level; thus, such flaps are called "superthin flaps" or subdermal vascular network flaps.

Clinical and vascular anatomical study of distally based sural flap.

Methods: The distally based sural flap has been useful for reconstruction of the distal third portion of the lower leg. We retrospectively review in this report the clinical outcomes. Moreover, we studied the vascular anatomy surrounding the sural nerve using preserved cadavers.

Variations of the bilateral testicular veins: embryological and clinical considerations.

Variations of the bilateral testicular veins were observed during routine dissection of the posterior abdominal wall in a 77-year-old male Japanese cadaver. The right testicular vein consisted of the lateral and medial testicular veins. The right lateral testicular vein drained into the right renal vein.

Duplication of the inferior vena cava associated with other variations.

Multiple vascular variations, including duplication of the inferior vena cava, double renal arteries and anomalies of the testicular blood vessels, were observed during dissection of the retroperitoneal region of a cadaver of an 87-year-old Japanese man. The right inferior vena cava arose from the union of right common iliac veins and a thinner interiliac vein. This interiliac vein ascended obliquely from right to left and joined the left common iliac veins to form the left inferior vena cava.

Clinical and anatomical study of cervicopectoral superthin flaps.

Background: The authors have used cervicopectoral superthin flaps to reconstruct face, chin, and neck scar contractures. In the authors' clinical experience, three types of flaps could be harvested: (1) cutaneous pedicled flaps, (2) musculocutaneous pedicled flaps, and (3) muscle pedicled flaps. In the present study, the authors discuss the clinical usefulness of these flaps.

Nerve fiber analysis for the lingual nerve of the human adult subjects.

The neuro-motor control of the human tongue musculature had not been investigated in detail. This study identified first that the lingual nerve should play the neuro-motor control of some lingual muscles. Six en bloc samples (12 sides), including the tissues from the skull base to the hyoid bone, and three whole tongues were obtained from adult human cadavers.

Physiological studies of retrusive movements of the human tongue.

This study identified that physiologically the superior pharyngeal constrictor muscle at the level of the base of the tongue contributes to retrusive movement of the tongue with constriction of the mid-pharyngeal cavity and possesses unique properties in terms of motor speech control along with the genioglossus muscle. From a kinematic study involving trans-nasal fiberscopy and lateral X-ray fluorography, retrusive movement of the tongue was highly correlated with constrictive movement of the mid-pharyngeal cavity. An electromyographic study revealed that the superior pharyngeal constrictor muscle at the level of the base of the tongue contributes to retrusive movement of the tongue and that the genioglossus muscle contributes to protrusive movement.

Clinical reappraisal of the segmental pectoralis major turn-over flap for coverage of the local mediastinal wound.

The viability of a long and narrow pectoralis major turn-over flap based on one intercostal muscle perforator was supported by the result of our cadaveric injection study. This flap preserves the muscular strength and aesthetic contour of the anterior axillary line, and is attractive for reconstruction of the mid-sternum.

Duplicate testicular veins accompanied by anomalies of the testicular arteries.

Duplicate testicular veins associated with other anomalies of the testicular arteries were observed during dissection of the posterior abdominal wall in a 90-year-old Japanese male cadaver. The right testicular vein was composed of the medial and lateral testicular veins. The medial testicular vein drained into the inferior vena cava, whereas the lateral testicular vein drained into the confluence of the inferior vena cava and right renal vein.

Morphological studies for retrusive movement of the human adult tongue.

This study identified the anatomical and close functional relationship between the transverse lingual and superior pharyngeal constrictor muscle. Two en bloc samples (including the tongue and mid-pharyngeal wall) and four whole tongues were obtained from adult human cadavers. We found that fibers of the superior pharyngeal constrictor muscle connected with fibers of the transverse lingual muscle, forming a ring of muscle at the base of the tongue.

Pathways of anesthetic from the thoracic paravertebral region to the celiac ganglion.

Communication between the lower thoracic paravertebral region and the celiac ganglion through the retrocrural space was investigated. After dye was injected into the endothoracic fascia in the lower thoracic paravertebral region at the T11 level, its spread to the celiac ganglion was examined in fifteen cadavers. The dye reached the celiac ganglion in nine cadavers (60%) by passing through the retrocrural space, along the greater and lesser splanchnic nerves and through the split in the crus of the diaphragm through which the splanchnic nerves traveled.

Appendectomy in rabbits with extended unilateral anesthesia.

Thoracic paravertebral anesthesia was not believed to accompany numbness in the lumbar nerve region. However, we recently discovered that thoracic paravertebral anesthesia could produce analgesia in the lumbar region. We called this block extended unilateral anesthesia.