[The complexity of hand-surgical procedures in the context of cross-sector care concepts: a consensus recommendation of the German Society of Hand Surgery].

Overboarding politcal influence in Germany concerning medical issues has come to a new peak. The report by the IGES Institute published in 2022 made an important contribution in this regard. Unfortunately, only that part of the recommendations of this report were implemented in a new version of the contract for outpatient surgery according to Section 115b SGB V (AOP contract), that called for an expansion of outpatient surgery.

[Case report of frontobasal reconstruction and volume augmentation using a free gracilis muscle flap and autologous fat grafting: utilising the free flap as a scaffold for fat transplantation].

This case report shows the interdisciplinary treatment of a 28-year-old woman suffering from a pronounced frontal volume defect after severe craniocerebral trauma. The combination of cranioplasty using a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) implant, free gracilis muscle flap transfer for soft tissue coverage and serial autologous fat grafting into the muscle flap for subsequent contouring enabled both an adequate and aesthetic reconstruction. This example demonstrates the feasibility of treating increasingly complex composite defects in a multidisciplinary setting, when plastic surgeons are involved.

Familial congenital symmastia: ultrastructurally abnormal breast tissue.

Reports about congenital symmastia and its surgical treatment are few. We report two patients - a mother and daughter - with congenital symmastia in whom breast and fatty tissue was found to be mobile adhering poorly to the chest wall. Although histological examination showed no abnormality of the tissue bridge between the breasts, ultrastructural investigation of breast tissue (including Cooper's ligaments) showed an abnormal arrangement of collagen fibres.