A cost effective training tool for flexor tendon repair: Pig's trotters.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to P M Gilbert.
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Reconstruction of the exenterated orbit remains a surgical challenge. Here, the authors present a case in which orbital exenteration was performed for an extensive, infiltrating medial canthal basal cell carcinoma; the resulting defect was reconstructed with osseointegrated implants and a pericranial flap onto which a split thickness skin graft was placed. The second stage of the aesthetic rehabilitation of this patient (placement of the transcutaneous abutments) was completed under local anaesthetic 16 weeks later. Subsequently, the patient was fitted with an oculoplastic prosthesis four weeks later. The above technique accelerates the prosthetic rehabilitation of the patient by performing the primary reconstructive procedures simultaneously with the exenteration and by removing the need for secondary surgical procedures under general anaesthetics. The whole process from orbital exenteration to the fitting of an ocular prosthesis was completed in just five months.
The medial spindle/retropunctal diamond procedure is a useful technique to correct medial ectropion. Unfortunately, the procedure is difficult, due to the limited size of the surgical field, the bleeding that is seen when the marginal artery is encountered and because of the ever present risk of damaging the canaliculus. We have developed a clamp that overcomes the anatomical opposition outlined above and at the same time improves access to the surgical field.
The use of resuscitation formulae for burns is advocated for A&E departments. Much care is taken to calculate the percentage of the burn, but this is then multiplied by an approximate weight. How accurate is this figure and should it be more carefully measured? Forty two sets of case notes of patients with resuscitation sized burns were reviewed. In 32, a weight was documented in the A&E notes. This was compared with the measured weight on arrival at the burn centre. In half the cases there was a greater than 5 kg difference and in nine patients over 10 kg of difference. The methods of patient weight assessment in 16 A&E departments were reviewed. The majority have only stand on scales. Three departments have sit on scales; however, if they were assessing the weight of a patient who is unable to sit they would need to ask the patient, relatives, or simply guess. Investment in weighing equipment should be encouraged if resuscitation formulae are to have any place in the A&E management of burn patients.
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Anterior midline cervical anomalies, excepting thyroglossal tract abnormalities, are rare. Two unusual and almost identical cases of an anomalous congenital tube connecting the chin to the upper sternum are described; only one previous similar report exists in the literature. In all three cases, the tubes occurred as isolated anomalies in otherwise healthy children.
Signaling by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks) is often mediated by proteins which bind PI3K products directly and are localized to intracellular membranes rich in PI3K products. The FYVE finger domain binds with high specificity to PtdIns3P and proteins containing this domain have been shown to be important components of diverse PI3K signaling pathways. The genome of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes five proteins containing FYVE domains, including Pib1p, whose function is unknown. In addition to a FYVE finger motif, the primary structure of Pib1p contains a region rich in cysteine and histidine residues that we demonstrate binds 2 mol eq of zinc, consistent with this region containing a RING structural domain. The Pib1p RING domain exhibited E2-dependent ubiquitin ligase activity in vitro, indicating that Pib1p is an E3 RING-type ubiquitin ligase. Fluorescence microscopy was used to demonstrate that a GFP-Pib1p fusion protein localized to endosomal and vacuolar membranes and deletional analysis of Pib1p domains indicated that localization of GFP-Pib1p is mediated solely by the FYVE domain. These results suggest that Pib1p mediates ubiquitination of a subset of cellular proteins localized to endosome and vacuolar membranes, and they expand the repertoire of PI3K-regulated pathways identified in eukaryotic cells.
OBJECTIVES: To review pre-burns centre management, including assessment, resuscitation, and transfer. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the notes of all the UK patients admitted to the Burns Centre in 1998, who had a body surface area burn of over 15% in adults (10% in children). RESULTS: There were 31 patients, 21 adults and 10 children, and the average burn size was 32% (12-96%). Fourteen were overestimated (average of 9%) and 13 underestimated by 7.5%. Twenty nine received intravenous fluids, 18 specified a formula, but it was only applied correctly in 10. The average time to the Burns Centre from the burn was 10 hours, and the time for resuscitation and transfer, eight hours. Documentation was generally poor. CONCLUSION: There has previously been considerable variation in the standard of initial burn management and there have been problems with burn percentage assessment and resuscitation formula application. A new proforma has been introduced to tackle these issues.
Rab GTPases are localized to distinct subsets of organelles within the cell, where they regulate SNARE-mediated membrane trafficking between organelles. One factor required for Rab localization and function is Rab GDP dissociation inhibitor (GDI), which is proposed to recycle Rab after vesicle fusion by extracting Rab from the membrane and loading Rab onto newly formed transport intermediates. GDI is composed of two domains; Rab binding is mediated by Domain I, and the function of Domain II is not known. In this study, Domain II of yeast GDI, encoded by the essential GDI1/SEC19 gene, was targeted in a genetic screen to obtain mutants that might lend insight into the function of this domain. In one gdi1 mutant, the cytosolic pools of all Rabs tested were depleted, and Rab accumulated on membranes, suggesting that this mutant Gdi1 protein has a general defect in extraction of Rab from membranes. In a second gdi1 mutant, the endosomal/vacuolar Rabs Vps21/Ypt51p and Ypt7p accumulated in the cytosol bound to Gdi1p, but localization of Ypt1p and Sec4p were not significantly affected. Using an in vitro assay which reconstitutes Gdi1p-mediated membrane loading of Rab, this mutant Gdi1p was found to be defective in loading of Vps21p but not Ypt1p. Loading of Vps21p by loading-defective Gdi1p was restored when acceptor membranes prepared from a deletion strain lacking Vps21p were used. These results suggest that membrane-associated Rab may regulate recruitment of GDI-Rab from the cytosol, possibly by regulating a GDI-Rab receptor. We conclude that Domain II of Gdi1p is essential for Rab loading and Rab extraction, and confirm that each of these activities is required for Gdi1p function in vivo.
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Skin cover after below-knee amputation has been extensively discussed. We describe the flaps which are commonly used and discuss their vascular basis in the context of the current knowledge of the fasciocutaneous system. An understanding of this vascular system will enable surgeons to plan and shape flaps for surgical exposure and coverage.
Burns caused by prolonged contact of wet cement with skin are common in this country. Recent literature has highlighted other ways in which the use and manufacture of cement can lead to burn injuries, notably through explosion and contact with hot powder during manufacturing. These injuries are uncommon in this country and potentially very serious. Case studies are presented of two men injured in such a way in the same incident at a cement-manufacturing plant.
Median clefts of the lower lip and mandible are rare. In the literature so far, about 62 cases have been described. In addition, three more patients are presented here. These cases show a broad variation in the severity of this deformity, ranging from a simple notch in the vermillion to a complete cleft of the lip involving the tongue, the chin, the mandible, the supporting structures of the median of the neck, and the manubrium sterni. Several hypotheses concerning the pathogenesis of median clefts of the lip and mandible have been proposed. Most authors consider it to be a failure of fusion of the first pair of branchial arches or failure of mesodermal penetration into the midline. From our embryologic point of view, however, instead of paired branchial arches, only one first branchial arch develops during the early embryonic period (< or = 17 mm crown-rump length). Within this first branchial arch, two mandibular processes grow out, separated by a groove in the median. These mandibular processes do not fuse but merge during the late embryonic period (> or = 17 mm to < or = 60 mm crown-rump length). In the same developmental period, there is formation of the lip and the alveolar process and the anlage and outgrowth of one membrane bone center in each mandibular process, resulting in the formation of the mandible with its symphysis. As a consequence of the preceding, we propose the following subdivision of the median clefts of the lip and/or mandible: Hypoplasia of the mandibular processes during the early embryonic period will lead to the severest cleft of the mandible extending into the neck. During the late embryonic period, the less severe median clefts will develop. Disturbances of the outgrowth of bone centers of the mandible, resulting in nonformation of its symphysis, cause clefting of the mandible with involvement of all related soft tissues. Defects in the merging process produce just a notch of the vermilion or a higher cleft of the lower lip with or without involvement of the alveolar process of the mandible. In conclusion, the variety of the clefts in the median of the lower lip and/or mandible as well as the low rate of incidence can be explained by the embryologic hypothesis proposed here.
We critically review 13 patients with progressive hemifacial atrophy treated with three basic surgical procedures (free flap transplantation, alloplastic implants, micro-fat injections 'lipofilling') and further ancillary techniques. In spite of the satisfactory results achieved with the procedures, with the exception of alloplasts, we feel that lipofilling may be considered an interesting solution for soft tissue augmentation of the face especially for moderate adipose defects, due to its repeatability, no donor site morbidity, no complications at the recipient site such as lesions resulting from dissection, bleeding, necrosis, etc. This technique can be performed in a day-hospital with short surgery time, at low cost and without a highly skilled team. For severe grades of adipose atrophy, because of the low blood supply to these tissues which interferes with take of any type of autograft, we think that free flaps actually represent one of the best solutions for soft tissue augmentation.
This is a single case report describing a young woman with progressive facial atrophy that began at age 15. After she underwent commissuroplasty and collagen injection at age 29, her symptoms continued to progress, and she was ultimately shown to have serologic evidence of systemic lupus. She had a "remission of symptoms" after commencement of medical treatment (chloroquine and topical steroids) for her lupus. The association of progressive hemifacial atrophy and lupus is not new. This case and other cases associated with different autoimmune diseases suggest an autoimmune collagen-vascular origin for some cases of progressive facial atrophy. Furthermore, there is a need to modify the surgical approach in light of concurrent disease.
Authors have reported an interest in the latero-nasal incision for surgical treatment of nasal deformities of patients with median and paramedian orbito-facial clefts. Validity of this "L" approach is correlated to its respect for the integrity of aesthetic facial units and to its position in a natural fold (naso-labial fold). A series of patients with median and paramedian orbito-facial clefts were operated upon using this approach and good results were obtained which support its theoretical value.
It is possible to modify the mathematical patterns of projection geometry to reshape the skull in cranio-facial surgery. The technique of the 'gore-pattern' in accordance with the Hendel procedure changes the shape of individual sections of the skull by changing their radius of curvature. This technique was well known to engineers who built complex structures such as ships, hulls, airfoils and domes. A rigid form of the desired shape is the result to be achieved, which becomes permanent with healing. The gore-pattern is developed by cutting the surface of the sphere along longitudinal lines. Straightening each piece results in a series of elliptical segments referred to as 'gores'. When constructing a sphere from a flat sheet of material, each segment (gore) is bent through 180 degrees and then assembled side-by-side into a sphere. If the gore is cut in the middle, a hemisphere results. Because there are only small areas of contact between the gores, less bending force is necessary to fold a gore-pattern into a sphere than a zone-pattern. The interesting points of this technique, its advantages, and clinical application in the treatment of skull deformity in scaphocephaly are illustrated.