Factors affecting swallow outcome following treatment for advanced oral and oropharyngeal malignancies.

Background: Treatment for tumors of the oral cavity and the oropharynx disrupts normal swallow function. The ability for oral diet postoperatively varies and may be influenced by surgery and patient-related factors.

Methods: In all, 114 patients treated with surgery with and without chemoradiotherapy for advanced oral/oropharyngeal cancer were recruited.

A functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm to identify distinct cortical areas of facial function: a reliable localizer.

Background: Irreversible facial paralysis can be surgically treated by importing both a new neural and a new motor muscle supply. Various donor nerves can be used. If a nerve supply other than the facial nerve is used, the patient has to adapt to generate a smile.

Topographic anatomy of the nerve to masseter: an anatomical and clinical study.

Background: The use of the motor nerve to masseter has proved to be a reliable and sensible solution in facial reanimation as a donor for free muscle transfer. In this paper we describe the topographic anatomy of the nerve to masseter and our original technique for its quick and safe harvesting.

Methods: This anatomical study is based on the dissection of the nerve to masseter in 17 embalmed cadaverous sites and is focused on the anatomical relations between the nerve and the surrounding structures.

Case series: non vascular considerations in trigeminal neuralgia.

An abnormal vascular course of the superior cerebellar artery is often cited as the cause for trigeminal neuralgia. However, among patients with TN-like symptoms, 6% to 16% are variously reported to have intracranial tumours. Aneurysms, tumours, or other lesions may impinge or irritate the trigeminal nerve along its course.

The vascular anatomy of the rat superficial epigastric flap by vascular corrosion casting and technical refinement for the study of choke vessels in cadaveric flap models.

Accurate depiction of cutaneous vascular microanatomy is of relevance to plastic surgical flap research, and to descriptive anatomy. Yet current techniques have not permitted full visualization of the subdermal plexus, or potential angiosomal connections. Nor has endothelial visualization been facilitated.

Vacuum-assisted closure for the treatment of Fournier's gangrene.

Background: Fournier's gangrene (FG) is a very aggressive necrotizing fasciitis involving subcutaneous fat and skin of scrotal and perineal regions. Vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) is a well-known method used to treat complex wounds. The authors for the first time enhance a multimodal strategy to treat the FG using VAC, reducing the number of surgical debridements, allowing a one-step surgical reconstruction with locoregional fasciocutaneous flap.

The distally based sural flap for lower leg reconstruction: versatility in patients with associated morbidity.

Introduction: Coverage of soft tissue defects in the lower leg is often made by use of free flap, also because of the improving of anaesthesiology techniques in the last decades. However, there are disadvantages in the use of free flaps like the need for a remote donor site, increased operative time, use of a major vessel to the leg, and microsurgical skills. Besides these, trauma in the lower limb are often cause of damage for a major vessels of the leg, so the use of free flaps in these patients may be related to an higher incidence of complications; also associated pathologies, like diabetes and vascular pathology, can increase the incidence of complications when a free flap is utilized.