Calcium phosphate cement remains the choice biomaterial for cranial reconstruction and augmentation in pediatric patients after 90% completion of cranial growth, especially compared with other nonallograft alternatives. While trauma to the site of calcium phosphate augmentation is a known risk for cement fracture, subsequent micro-fragmentation and sequestration of the cement beneath the fracture site can produce a localized inflammatory reaction that requires surgical intervention to adequately address. The authors present the course of a patient undergoing a prolonged inflammatory reaction to calcium phosphate micro-fragmentation after trauma to the site of previous augmentation performed to mend bitemporal hollowing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLearning Objectives: After studying this article, the participant should be able to: 1. Describe the causes and preoperative evaluation of facial paralysis. 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The average nerve graft length utilized in cross-face nerve grafting for reconstruction of facial nerve palsy is 20-22 cm. While the graft length is thought to be one of the greatest determinants of muscle strength, the mechanism through which this happens remains unknown. We studied changes in axonal regeneration along the length of a 2 cm cross-face nerve graft in a rat model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSkin can be mechanically stimulated to grow through a clinical procedure called tissue expansion (TE). Using a porcine TE model, we determined that expansion promptly activates transcription of SFRP2 in skin and we revealed that in the epidermis, this protein is secreted by Langerhans cells (LCs). Similar to well-known mechanosensitive genes, the increase in SFRP2 expression was proportional to the magnitude of tension, showing a spike at the apex of the expanded skin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTissue expansion procedures (TE) utilize mechanical forces to induce skin growth and regeneration. While the impact of quick mechanical stimulation on molecular changes in cells has been studied extensively, there is a clear gap in knowledge about sequential biological processes activated during long-term stimulation of skin in vivo. Here, we present the first genome-wide study of transcriptional changes in skin during TE, starting from 1 h to 7 days of expansion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF