The cover of an ear thermometer probe as a split-thickness skin graft mold in external auditory canal reconstruction.

Maintaining the patency of the external auditory canal (EAC) during reconstruction is important because of its physiological role in hearing and immunological protective functions. The curved shape of the EAC presents a challenge when performing a skin graft. One of the key points for a successful skin graft is to ensure compression on the wound bed, and many novel methods, including prefabricated ear molds, have been reported for this purpose.

Basal cell adenoma of parotid gland: two case reports and literature review.

Most of salivary tumors are benign in nature and are typically diagnosed and classified based on their histopathological presentation. Basal cell adenoma of the salivary glands is a rare, benign disease accounting for 1% to 3% of salivary gland tumors. Despite its low incidence, basal cell adenoma is the third most common benign tumor of the salivary gland after pleomorphic adenoma and Warthin's tumor.

Safe and effective thrombolysis in free flap salvage: Intra-arterial urokinase infusion.

Despite the high success rate in reconstruction using free tissue transfer, flap failure is often caused by microvascular thrombosis. In a small percentage of cases with complete flap loss, a salvage procedure is performed. In the present study, the effectiveness of intra-arterial urokinase infusion through the free flap tissue was investigated to develop a protocol to prevent thrombotic failure.

Partial second-toe pulp free flap for fingertip reconstruction: Experience and surgical tips to minimize complications.

Background: Traumatic fingertip injury is a common hand injury and various methods are available to address them. The partial second-toe pulp (PSTP) free flap is useful because of the similarity in shape, texture, and sensation to the fingertips. However, there may be many difficulties during surgery.

A mutation in keratin 18 that causes caspase-digestion resistance protects homozygous transgenic mice from hepatic apoptosis and injury.

Cytoskeletal keratin 18 (K18) undergoes caspase-mediated digestion during apoptosis, which leads to dramatic disassembly of keratin filaments. We studied the significance of K18 caspase digestion in a mouse model and generated transgenic mice expressing the human K18 caspase digestion-resistant double-mutant K18-D238/397E in a mouse (m) K18-null background, and compared their response to injury mediated by administration of antibody against tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 6 (Fas), anti-FasAb. Notably, K18-D238/397E;mK18-null mice were significantly more resistant to anti-FasAb-induced injury as compared with K18-WT;mK18-null mice (23% vs 57% lethality, respectively; <0.