Plastic Surgery Publications

Subcutaneous temporal browlift under local anesthesia: a useful technique for periorbital rejuvenation.

Published in Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Nov-Dec 2011

BACKGROUND: Various techniques have been described for periorbital rejuvenation and correction of the ptotic brow, including the coronal brow lift, the endoscopic brow lift, anterior hairline foreheadplasty in the subgaleal, subperiosteal, or subcutaneous planes, and the subcutaneous temporal brow lift.

OBJECTIVES: The authors present results from a series of 28 patients treated with subcutaneous temporal brow lift over nearly four years.

METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted of 28 patients who were treated with subcutaneous temporal brow lift by the senior author (JDF) between July 2003 and January 2007. All patients underwent the same subcutaneous temporal brow lift procedure under local anesthesia in an office-based setting. No combined procedures were performed on any of the patients in this series.

RESULTS: Of the 28 patients, 27 were female and one was male; mean age was 54 years. Five patients underwent a unilateral brow lift for asymmetry and 23 patients underwent a bilateral procedure. The mean length of follow-up was 10.8 months. Scarring was minimal and rated as “good” or “excellent” by both patients and surgeon. The effectiveness of the browlift was also rated as “good” or “excellent” by all but one patient. Two patients underwent revision-one for scar revision and the other for a greater degree of lift. There were no incidences of hematoma, infection, numbness, or excessive scarring.

CONCLUSIONS: The subcutaneous temporal brow lift is an effective, reproducible, and inexpensive technique that can be performed safely under local anesthesia.

Bidros RS1, Salazar-Reyes H, Friedman JD.

Posterior pharyngeal augmentation in the treatment of velopharyngeal insufficiency: a 40-year experience.

Published in Annals of Plastic Surgery, July 2011

BACKGROUND: Velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) remains a common problem in the care of patients with cleft palate and other related conditions. It may be successfully corrected with augmentation of the posterior pharynx. The purpose of this study was to review the experience and results of posterior pharyngeal augmentation over a 40-year period at one cleft center in the United States.

METHODS: All patients from 1968 to 2008 who underwent posterior pharyngeal augmentation for the treatment of VPI were reviewed retrospectively. Diagnosis, age at the time of operation, type of implant used, duration of follow-up, speech performance both pre- and postoperatively, and complications were analyzed. Speech performance preoperatively was assessed by video fluoroscopy and/or nasoendoscopy. Resonance was assessed by both the surgeon and speech pathologist using a 4 point grading scale.

RESULTS: One hundred eleven patients underwent posterior pharyngeal augmentation. Thirteen patients required removal of the implant because of extrusion (n = 12) or postoperative sleep apnea (n = 1). Five patients with failed implants at the primary operation had successful replacement at a second operation, resulting in a retained implant success rate of 93%. Of the 103 patients who were successfully augmented, 15 were lost to follow-up, leaving 88 patients with full postoperative speech evaluations. Of the 88 patients evaluated, 64 exhibited normal or near normal speech (73%), 22 patients had mildly nasal speech (25%), and 2 patients (2%) were not improved. Highest extrusion rates were seen for smooth surface silicone and rolled gortex implants.

CONCLUSION: Augmentation of the posterior pharyngeal wall is a safe and effective treatment for patients with VPI. Implants are well tolerated and speech is substantially improved.

Lypka M1, Bidros R, Rizvi M, Gaon M, Rubenstein A, Fox D, Cronin E.

A comparison of resistance to fracture among four commercially available forms of hydroxyapatite cement.

Published in Annals of Plastic Surgery, July 2005

Hydroxyapatite cement is a relatively new biomaterial that has found widespread use in craniomaxillofacial surgery. Despite its common usage, complication rates as high as 32% have been reported. When failed implants are removed, implant fracture has been cited as a potential cause of failure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate resistance to fracture among 4 commercially available hydroxyapatite cement formulations. The materials tested included Norian Craniofacial Repair System (carbonated apatite cement) (AO North America, Devon, PA), Norian CRS Fast Set Putty (carbonated apatite cement) (AO North America), BoneSource (hydroxyapatite cement) (Stryker Leibinger, Portage, MI), and Mimix (hydroxyapatite cement) (Walter Lorenz Surgical, Inc, Jacksonville, FL). To ensure consistency, all materials were embedded in acrylic wells. Each material was placed into a well 2.54 cm in diameter and 0.953 cm in thickness. The materials were prepared per manufacturer specifications. All materials were incubated at 37.0 degrees C, in 6% CO2, 100% humidity for 36 hours. Using the Bionix MTS Test System, a 12-mm-diameter probe applied incremental force to the center of the disk at a rate of 0.1 mm per second. The transmitted force was measured using a Bionix MTS Axial-Torsional Load Transducer for each disk. The force which resulted in fracture was recorded for each material. Ten disks of each material were processed by this method, for a total of 40 disks. The significance of resistance to fracture for the 4 compounds was analyzed using 1-way analysis of variance with post hoc Scheffe method. Mean fracture force with related P values was plotted for direct comparison of group outcomes. Material type contributed significantly to variance in fracture force for the biomaterials studied. Norian CRS required the greatest mean fracture force (1385 N, SD+/-292 N), followed by Norian CRS Fast Set Putty (1143 N, SD+/-193 N). Mimix required a mean fracture force of 740 N, SD+/-79 N. BoneSource required a mean fracture force of 558 N, SD+/-150 N. Mimix and BoneSource required significantly less force for fracture when compared with Norian CRS and Fast Set Putty (P<0.01). Comparisons of fracture load resistance between 4 commonly used bone substitute materials have not been previously reported. Increasing biomaterial strength may reduce complications resulting from reinjury to cranioplasty sites. In this model, Norian CRS and Norian CRS Fast Set Putty demonstrated a significantly greater resistance to fracture when compared with BoneSource and Mimix.

Miller L1, Guerra AB, Bidros RS, Trahan C, Baratta R, Metzinger SE.

The thoracodorsal artery perforator-scapular osteocutaneous (TDAP-SOC) flap for reconstruction of palatal and maxillary defects.

Published in Annals of Plastic Surgery, January 2005

Despite technical advances over the past 3 decades, subtotal, total, and extended total maxillectomy defects remain challenging reconstructive problems. In particular, postoncologic resection of the maxilla results in complex 3-dimensional defects of the midface, which cause severe functional and esthetic deformities. Such defects generally require composite tissue flaps for reconstruction. Rebuilding the palate and maxilla is especially challenging because it requires reconstitution of the facial buttresses, occlusion, replacement of bony hard palate, and the thin intraoral and intranasal lining which normally constitute the soft palate. Various methods of reconstruction have been applied to this area in search of an ideal soft tissue-bone flap to restore the bony framework of the maxilla and palate while providing an internal lining. Osteocutaneous and osteomuscular flaps such originating from the scapular, iliac, peroneal, and radial vascular systems have been attempted with good success. We devised an osteocutaneous flap based on the scapular vascular system, which provided bone and soft tissue to successfully reconstruct the palate and maxilla in 2 patients. The skin paddle received its blood supply from the major perforating vessels of the thoracodorsal artery, and the scapular bone was nourished by the angular vessels. Although free tissue transfer using thoracodorsal perforator flaps has been described, this flap has not been previously reported in the literature as an osteocutaneous tissue transfer. With the use of rigid fixation, excellent results have been obtained with this technique for palatal and maxillary reconstruction.

Bidros RS1, Metzinger SE, Guerra AB.

Simultaneous bilateral breast reconstruction with superior gluteal artery perforator (SGAP) flaps.

Published in Annals of Plastic Surgery, October 2004

The superior gluteal artery perforator (SGAP) flap is a useful technique for restoration of the breast after mastectomy. If appropriately planned, the soft-tissue envelope supplied by the superior gluteal artery perforator vessels can be harvested with minimal donor site morbidity and often results in a highly esthetic restoration of the breasts. Dissection of the flap is performed with complete preservation of gluteus maximus muscle function. The resulting vascular pedicle obtained via dissection through the muscle is longer than that of gluteal musculocutaneous flaps and affords the surgeon the luxury of avoiding vein grafts in the anastomotic phase of surgery. Despite these advantages, use of the SGAP flap is not popular among reconstructive surgeons. Many practitioners are not familiar with the vascular anatomy of the gluteal area and may not be comfortable with the dissection of the parent vessels or lack the desire to practice microsurgery. On the other hand, our group has reported the largest experience to date with this method of breast reconstruction and has found the SGAP flap to be a reliable and safe method of autologous breast restoration in unilateral absence of the breast. Although the indications to perform single-stage gluteal tissue transplantation for bilateral breast restoration are uncommon, they do occasionally arise in clinical practice. We have carried out concurrent bilateral breast reconstruction using SGAP flaps on 6 patients with acceptable overall morbidity. All flaps went on to survive and resulted in highly esthetic restorations of the breast. Though a challenging undertaking, in-unison transfer of bilateral SGAP flaps serves as a useful option for a subset of patients desiring 1-stage bilateral breast reconstruction.

Guerra AB1, Soueid N, Metzinger SE, Levine J, Bidros RS, Erhard H, Allen RJ.

Bilateral breast reconstruction with the deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap: an experience with 280 flaps.

Published in Annals of Plastic Surgery, March 2004

Bilateral prophylactic mastectomy can reduce the incidence of breast cancer by 87 to 93% in high-risk individuals and is an appealing option for many patients if reconstruction can be provided with acceptable morbidity and outstanding esthetic results. Autogenous breast reconstruction techniques have evolved over the last 20 years to meet this goal. Familiarity with the deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap led us to carry out simultaneous bilateral breast reconstruction with acceptable morbidity and superior esthetic outcome in 3 patient groups: (1) after bilateral prophylactic mastectomy, (2) after therapeutic and contralateral prophylactic mastectomy, and (3) after explantation of bilateral implant failures. A retrospective review of our experience with 280 flaps in 140 patients was performed. Average operating times, including time for implant removal or mastectomy and reconstruction, was 7.3 hours. Average hospitalization was 3.9 days. Significant perioperative complications occurred in 9 patients (6.4%); all returned to the operating room. This included 7 microvascular complications, 1 hematoma, 1 seroma, and 1 DVT. Less significant complications were divided into early and late. The early complications included 1.8% partial flap necrosis, 4.2% abdominal apron necrosis greater than 5 cm2, 2.9% seromas that required intervention, and 5.7% partial breast flap dehiscence. Late complications included 12.5% fat necrosis of any size and 2.1% hernia formation. Smoking, obesity, age, history of chest wall radiation, and flap size were evaluated as risk factors for increased morbidity.

Guerra AB1, Metzinger SE, Bidros RS, Rizzuto RP, Gill PS, Nguyen AH, Dupin CL, Allen RJ.

Breast reconstruction with gluteal artery perforator (GAP) flaps: a critical analysis of 142 cases.

Published in Annals of Plastic Surgery, February 2004

Fujino was the first to introduce gluteal tissue as a free flap for breast reconstruction. The use of the musculocutaneous flap from the buttock in breast reconstruction has been championed by Shaw. Despite the initial enthusiasm for this area as a donor site, few other large series exist on the subject. Two decades of experience with this region as a donor site led to recognition of advantages and drawbacks. Furthermore, use of both the superior and inferior gluteal musculocutaneous flap was associated with certain important donor site complications and the use of vein grafts to allow for microvascular anastomosis. The evolution of free tissue transfer has progressed to the level of the perforator flap. This reconstructive technique allows elevation of tissue from any region consisting only of fat and skin. This minimizes donor site morbidity by allowing preservation of the underlying muscle and coverage of important structures in the region such as nerves. The superior and inferior gluteal perforator flaps have been used at our institution for breast reconstruction since 1993. The superior gluteal artery perforator (S-GAP) flap is our preferred method of breast reconstruction when the abdomen is not available or preferable. We report the result of this flap over the past 9 years and point out important surgical refinements, advantages, disadvantages, and lessons learned during this time.

Guerra AB1, Metzinger SE, Bidros RS, Gill PS, Dupin CL, Allen RJ.