Investigating the Thickness of the Deltoid Free Flap Using Ultrasonography and Clinical Application in Foot and Hand Soft-Tissue Defect Reconstruction.

Background:  Although the deltoid flap is widely described as a thin flap, no studies have reported on the measurement of its thickness. Thus, this study aimed to measure deltoid flap thickness at different points using brightness-mode ultrasonography and report our initial clinical experience.

Methods:  This study included 36 adults (26 males and 10 females; mean age: 34 years) with 72 healthy deltoid regions.

The Arterial System of the Fasciocutaneous Deltoid Flap Pedicle on 320-Detector Row Computed Tomography and Clinical Application in the Foot and Hand.

Background:  Fasciocutaneous free deltoid flaps are used to reconstruct hand, foot, and maxillofacial defects. Although anatomical studies of this flap pedicle have been performed on cadavers, there are no reports on the use of 320-detector row computed tomography angiography (CTA-320) to investigate the deltoid flap pedicle in living humans. This study aimed to investigate the arterial characteristics of the deltoid flap pedicle using the CTA-320 system in living humans.

Brand-switching and tobacco taxation in Vietnam.

Background: The government of Vietnam is embarking on a radical tobacco excise tax reform, switching from the current pure ad valorem scheme to a mixed system by adding a specific component. There have been concerns raised by state-owned tobacco companies against this initiative that switching to a mixed scheme may shift consumption away from cheaper, domestic brands to more expensive, foreign brands (produced locally by joint ventures between multinational tobacco companies and domestic firms) and to illicit cigarettes, thus impairing the domestic industry, rather than reducing cigarette consumption effectively. Unfortunately, although this concern has been one of the biggest obstacles to the tobacco tax reform in the country, no study thus far has attempted to address it due mostly to the unavailability of relevant micro-market data with detailed information on brand choice.

Thickness-dependent in-plane anisotropy of GaTe phonons.

Gallium Telluride (GaTe), a layered material with monoclinic crystal structure, has recently attracted a lot of attention due to its unique physical properties and potential applications for angle-resolved photonics and electronics, where optical anisotropies are important. Despite a few reports on the in-plane anisotropies of GaTe, a comprehensive understanding of them remained unsatisfactory to date. In this work, we investigated thickness-dependent in-plane anisotropies of the 13 Raman-active modes and one Raman-inactive mode of GaTe by using angle-resolved polarized Raman spectroscopy, under both parallel and perpendicular polarization configurations in the spectral range from 20 to 300 cm.

In vitro biodegradation behavior of biodegradable hydroxyapatite coated AZ31 alloy treated at various pH values.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of pH treatment on the formation of hydroxyapatite (HA) coating layer and the biodegradation rate of hydroxyapatite coated AZ31 alloy for applications in biodegradable implants.

Methods: HA was grown on the surface of AZ31 substrate at three different pH solutions of 7.5, 9.

Customized tissue engineering for ear reconstruction.

Tissue engineering (TE) of cartilage for reconstructive surgery has proven to be a promising option for obtaining tissue for 3D structures that results in minimal donor site morbidity. Technological advances in this area are important since many defects can only be treated with customized implants. Most TE strategies rely on the use of resorbable 3D scaffolds to guide the growing tissue, with each tissue requiring a specific scaffold that has precisely defined properties depending on the physiological environment.

Optimization of platelet isolation and extraction of autogenous TGF-beta in cartilage tissue engineering.

Platelets are enriched with Transforming Growth Factor-beta (TGF-beta). However, information is limited concerning TGF-beta's effects at the molecular level. Nevertheless, it has been demonstrated that TGF-beta activates cell proliferation and its positive influence on cartilage formation has been proven within the field of Tissue Engineering (TE).

Comparison of effective use of implanted vascular pedicles for skin flap prefabrication: an experimental study.

Thin, large, well-vascularized, and axial-pattern flaps are often desired in the clinical practice of defect reconstruction to maximize esthetic and functional results. Flap prefabrication based on the neovascularization development following vascular pedicle implantation allows surgeons to create such flaps as required. Using different types of implanted vascular pedicles, the aim of the study was to identify the most effective and suitable types of pedicles for clinical use.

Complete middle forearm amputations after avulsion injuries--microsurgical replantation results in Vietnamese patients.

Background: Replantation after complete avulsion amputations at the level of the middle forearm is rarely reported in the literature and remains one of the most difficult challenges for microsurgeons. Microsurgery and its clinical applications are new procedures in Vietnam. The purpose of this article is to evaluate our replantation results in Vietnamese patients relating to this type of injury using microsurgical techniques.

Effectiveness of free gracilis muscle flaps in the treatment of chronic osteomyelitis with purulent fistulas at the distal third of the tibia in children.

Background: Chronic purulent infection at the distal third of the tibia resulting from of a previous hematogenous osteomyelitis in children is a severe infection which is seldom reported in the literature and remains a difficult challenge for orthopaedic surgeons.

Methods: A 6-year retrospective review from September 2001 to October 2006 (institutional review board-approved) was performed to evaluate postoperative surgical results of this type of infection using a free gracilis muscle flap.

Results: A total of 6 children with an average age of 9.

Successful re-construction of a large tissue defect using a free pre-fabricated flap with purely implanted arterialised venous loop.

Flap pre-fabrication represents an interesting technique in tissue-defect reconstruction. In this article we report the successful clinical application of a free pre-fabricated flap using an isolated arterialised venous loop as an implanted vascular pedicle for reconstruction of an extended soft-tissue defect on the leg, as well as clinical neo-vascularisation development following arterialised venous loop implantation. The procedure appears potentially useful in selected patients due to the easy harvest of an isolated vein loop as well as a favourable functional and aesthetic result at the donor site.

Neovascularization and free microsurgical transfer of in vitro cartilage-engineered constructs.

Cartilage tissue engineering shows to have tremendous potential for the reconstruction of three-dimensional cartilage defects. To ensure survival, shape, and function, in vitro cartilage-engineered constructs must be revascularized. This article presents an effective method for neovascularization and free microsurgical transfer of these in vitro constructs.

Study of the neovascularisation of prefabrication of flaps using a silicone sheet and an isolated arterial pedicle: experimental study in rabbits.

Use of an isolated artery as an implanted pedicle in prefabricated flaps has rarely been reported either clinically or experimentally. In Chinchilla Bastard rabbits (n = 36), we dissected an isolated arterial pedicle from the femoral and saphenous artery, anastomosed it end-to-end to the femoral vein at the inguinal ligament and created an isolated arterial loop pedicle. This was implanted and fixed with polyglactin 9/0 under a random-pattern vascularised abdominal fasciocutaneous flap.

Microsurgical finger replantation in Hanoi, Vietnam: our first experience.

In this retrospective study, the author reports on preliminary results of finger replantations performed in the Department of Traumatology, Orthopaedics and Hand Surgery at Central Hospital 108, No. 1 Tran Hung Dao, Hanoi, Vietnam between September 1999 and December 2002. Forty-six amputated digits involving thirty-two complete and fourteen incomplete fingers were replanted and subsequently evaluated.

Neovascularization in prefabricated flaps using a tissue expander and an implanted arteriovenous pedicle.

Creating prefabricated flaps using tissue expanders in combination with the implantation of maximal blood flow vascular pedicles into suitable tissue areas represents a new tendency in the reconstruction of large skin defects. In 42 Chinchilla Bastard female rabbits weighing 3,700-4,600 g, skeletonized arteriovenous pedicles with maximal blood flow, dissected from the femoral and saphena magna bundles, were implanted underneath abdominal fasciocutaneous flaps. Oval tissue expanders of 250 ml were placed and fixed on the abdominal wall to expand these prefabricated flaps.