Biomedical subjects
P Scougall
Publications and source records attributed to P Scougall.
Closure of complex defects in the chest wall with muscle flaps.
Aggressive treatment of thoracic malignancy may be complicated by complex defects in the chest wall. These may be associated with serious complications such as chronic infection, respiratory or cardiac failure, or major haemorrhage. Closure of the defect and restoration of the integrity of the chest wall is important for both functional and cosmetic reasons. Local flaps are often used, but may be inadequate or unavailable. Reconstruction with free flaps is better in these cases, as this provides as much abundant well-vascularised tissue as is required. We present 12 patients treated successfully for complex chest wall defects using various forms of local and free flap reconstruction. There were five complications, three healed spontaneously and two required secondary procedures before they healed.
Desmoid tumors in childhood.
Eight cases of extraabdominal desmoid tumors in children are reviewed. Seven were located in the pelvis or forearm, and the most common presenting complaint was a slowly enlarging mass. In all cases, diagnosis was established by open biopsy, and initial treatment was by surgical excision. At follow-up (average, 5.8 years), six patients were tumor free. Desmoids are benign tumors that usually carry a good prognosis. There is no difference between the tumor behavior in children and adults. The treatment of choice is wide local excision. If vital structures are involved, it may be more appropriate to preserve function by performing partial tumor excision. For quiescent recurrent tumors, observation is appropriate management, but if further treatment is required, reexcision or radiotherapy may be tried.