Quality of care of patients with chronic lymphoedema in Germany.

Background: The management of lymphoedema is complex and should be based on guidelines. To date, no data assessing quality of care in lymphoedema in Germany are available.

Objective: We aimed at evaluating the quality of care of lymphoedema in the metropolitan area of Hamburg using guideline-based indicators.

Silicone gel implants in breast augmentation and reconstruction.

Silicone gel implants have been widely used for breast augmentation and reconstruction since the 1960s. Several alterations to both elastomer shell and filler gel have been made over the years to improve their ability to replicate the natural breast and to decrease the incidence of capsular contracture. The latter is a pathologic process involving the periprosthetic tissues formed in response to the presence of the implant.

Vertical mammaplasty: technique and complications.

Vertical mammaplasty is among a group of mammaplasty procedures designed to minimize the extent of skin excision, and thus the potential for aesthetically unpleasing scars. However, these less traditional techniques have not enjoyed the same usage as classic inverted-mammaplasties, and thus the accumulated experience in these techniques is less. Vertical mammaplasty can yield excellent results when applied appropriately, but the learning curve can be significant.

Chromosome breakage in the Prader-Willi and Angelman syndromes involves recombination between large, transcribed repeats at proximal and distal breakpoints.

Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and Angelman syndrome (AS) are distinct neurobehavioral disorders that most often arise from a 4-Mb deletion of chromosome 15q11-q13 during paternal or maternal gametogenesis, respectively. At a de novo frequency of approximately.67-1/10,000 births, these deletions represent a common structural chromosome change in the human genome.

Acute otitis media and facial paralysis in children.

We reviewed 10 children who presented with facial paralysis after the onset of acute otitis media. The objective of the study was to examine the outcome of facial paralysis in children with acute otitis media treated without facial nerve decompression. Two groups were identified: 8 patients with incomplete paralysis and 2 with complete paralysis.