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Biomedical subjects

C Tremolada

Publications and source records attributed to C Tremolada.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Temporal galeal fascia cover of custom-made gold lid weights for correction of paralytic lagophthalmos: long-term evaluation of an improved technique.

BACKGROUND: Chronic paralytic lagophthalmos is a condition that is often conservatively treated with ophthalmic ointments and eye drops, but usually requires definitive surgical correction. PURPOSE: An effective modification of the gold lid loading technique is described, which we have found to be the simplest and most reliable method for lid reanimation. MATERIAL: After empiric evaluations with lead fisherman's weights 'glued' to the eyelid, a custom-made gold lid weight is made by a jeweller on the basis of the tarsal dimensions of the individual patient, and then sutured to the tarsus under local anaesthesia and covered with a fine sheet of temporal galea. Other ancillary procedures (lower lid suspension, lateral tarsal strip, lateral tarsoplasty) are added as required. METHODS: Between 1990 and 1996, 27 patients underwent this type of surgery, of whom 24 were re-evaluated after a mean follow-up period of 73.2 months (range 36-96 months), 14 of these for a minimum of 5 years. RESULTS: None of the gold weights was extruded, all 24 patients experienced marked improvement of their dry-eye symptoms and expressed a high degree of satisfaction. Six patients underwent further minor surgery (lateral McLaughlin tarsorrhaphy) in order to improve relative underaction. Two patients had ptosis (less than 2 mm of asymmetry) of the affected side but refused further correction. CONCLUSION: The use of custom-made gold lid weights and a protective galeal layer is a simple, reliable and successful means for permanently rehabilitating paralysed eyelids.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

The "triple technique" for treating stable Graves' ophthalmopathy.

Graves' ophthalmopathy may range from mild eyelid retraction to a devastating process that involves the entire orbit and culminates in gross ocular congestion, massive proptosis, and even blindness. Whether the ophthalmopathy is mild or severe, patients are managed on an individual basis according to the predominant clinical findings, which may include congestion, myopathy, lid retraction, proptosis, and optic neuropathy. The process usually becomes quiescent after 6 months to 3 years; however, the changes caused by fibrosis (lid retraction and ocular muscle enlargement) are permanent. The cornerstone of surgical treatment for severe cases is bony orbital decompression; however, in our experience, mild to moderate Graves' ophthalmopathy is better treated by combining eyelid surgery and orbital lipectomy. Our approach consists of a conservative orbital lipectomy, the lengthening of the levator-Müller complex by means of marginal myotomies, and a limited lateral tarsal apposition. These three different surgical steps, which have been described previously as isolated procedures, are undertaken on both eyes at the same time and modulated according to the deformity of the patient. The operation can be performed under local anesthesia with sedation, thus allowing intraoperative monitoring of the correction; the patient can be discharged after a few hours. The results in 32 operated eyes of 16 patients have been a marked aesthetic and functional improvement, with no complications after 6 to 18 months of follow-up. The relative simplicity and very low morbidity of this procedure, as well as its reliability, make it ideal in patients with mild to moderate aesthetic and functional impairment who are looking for a substantial improvement but are unwilling to undergo a relatively major procedure such as a transosseous decompression, which, in our opinion, is the operation of choice only when the patient presents with optic neuropathy or major proptosis.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

The "round block" purse-string suture: a simple method to close skin defects with minimal scarring.

We report the use of a subcuticular purse-string suture for closure of surgical skin defects, a simple maneuver that we have found to be very useful in closing difficult wounds and reducing scarring. The purse-string suture is performed with a large nonabsorbable suture that is passed intradermally and left in situ at least 4 weeks. This technique has been applied in 196 patients for a total of 221 sutures over a period of 2 years, being used to close skin defects from 2 x 2 to 8 x 11 cm in many areas of the body. All the patients showed, at closure, a large number of concentric redundant folds as well as considerable distortion of nearby structures; both improved impressively over a period of 2 to 3 weeks and became nearly normal at the time of suture removal (4 to 8.2 weeks, mean 5.7 weeks). The initially very limited and almost circular scar oriented itself along the skin tension lines over a period of a few weeks and, when matured, was always shorter than the original defect. In general, minimal scar widening occurred when we used larger sutures (more than 0-1) that were left longer (more than 6 weeks). Complications have been 23 cases of dehiscence (10.4 percent) in 23 patients (between the fifth and sixteenth days, mean 6.7 days); they were caused by the bad quality of the skin and by the use of too small sutures that cut through the dermis. The "round block" suture has many advantages: 1. It is a simple, inexpensive, and rapid technique for closing wounds by expanding the surrounding skin and often avoiding the use of skin grafts and/or local flaps. 2. It can minimize scarring; the final scars are shorter than the original defect and usually of very good quality. 3. It allows a very useful temporary closure that stretches the surrounding skin while waiting for the definitive histologic report. If this method is not chosen as a definitive closure, later repair with local flaps may be facilitated. 4. For the reasons expressed above, it never compromises the final result even in cases of dehiscence. The main disadvantage is the acceptability of the method on the part of patients, who need to be carefully prepared for both the gross initial distortion and the long time the suture has to be retained; nevertheless, patient satisfaction with the final results in generally very high, especially in large excisions of the face.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Use of a versatile axial dorsonasal musculocutaneous flap in repair of the nasal lobule.

We present our 17 years of experience in using a sliding axial musculocutaneous flap from the nasal dorsum in the repair of 53 nasal lobular defects (follow-up 3 to 212 months, mean 47.3 months). This flap is a modification of the classic Rintala flap but is based on a greater understanding of surgical anatomy, the biomechanical properties of skin, and physiology of flaps, all of which allow a more aesthetically satisfactory closure of very distal nasal lobular defects. After excising the tumor, two parallel incisions are made along the sides of the nasal dorsum, and flap is raised in the gliding plane deep to the fibromuscular layer of the nose and superficial to the cartilage and bone and then advanced over the defect, which can be as large as the entire nasal lobule. The flap is very reliable (no failure in our series) and easy to perform; furthermore, it is a fast, one-step reconstructive procedure that leaves the scars in areas of natural shadow. This flap makes use of a wide dorsal and glabellar undermining to recruit sufficient skin; it takes advantage of the mild tension exerted by the underlying nasal framework to lengthen the flap reliably without the need for an extra incision or Burow's triangles, as originally described by Rintala. Neither tip rotation nor glabella flattening has ever been found to be a real problem in our series because the flap elongates in a period of 2 to 6 weeks and tip always comes down, provided that the nasal framework is not modified. We believe that the axial musculocutaneous sliding flap has distinct advantages over other alternative local flaps in the repair of lobular nasal defects; moreover, although this simple operation cannot compete with the quality of the aesthetic results achieved by very skilled masters using frontal flaps, it is an easy, quick, one-step procedure that allows acceptable and reliable aesthetic results to be achieved by the majority of surgeons, and it does not harm the precious forehead donor site, which may become essential in case of the need for further reconstruction.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

The treatment of chronic flexion contractures of the proximal interphalangeal joint.

A method of treatment of chronic flexion contractures of the PIP joint is presented, with the results obtained in 19 patients treated between 1989 and 1992 after a follow-up of from 6 to 53 months. The flexion contractures, with an extension deficit which ranged between 70 and 90 degrees, had been present for a period of between 2 months and 24 years. Our treatment program involves the surgical release of the unreducible PIP joint followed by the use of static and/or dynamic splints. Surgery is performed using a midlateral approach; the accessory collateral ligament and the flexor sheath are incised and, after the volar plate and check-rein ligaments have been excised, forced hyperextension is applied. The main collateral ligaments are carefully spared and freed from the condyle if there are any remaining adhesions. In our 19 patients, complete extension of the finger was achieved in 11 cases (57.9%); in the remaining 8 cases (42.1%) the residual extension deficit ranges from 10 to 15 degrees. In our experience this combined surgical and rehabilitative approach had led to consistently good results with minimal complications.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Iatrogenic nostril stenosis: aesthetic correction using a vestibular labial mucosa flap.

Nostril stenosis is an infrequent finding that often has an iatrogenic cause. It is a very difficult problem to resolve and usually requires several months of prosthetic support in order to counteract the recurrence of internal scarring and shrinking. We present a 4-year-old child with a monolateral iatrogenic nostril stenosis. A satisfactory and stable correction was obtained using a "piercing" flap taken from the labial vestibule. The use of a nasal stent (not placed immediately and worn only at night) was necessary for only 2 months. This technique has a number of advantages: the absence of external scars, little or no tendency to recurrence due to the absence of contraction provided by the well-vascularized flap tissue, and the ease and rapidity of the surgical procedure.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1994

Anatomical basis for a safe and easier approach to composite rhytidectomy.

The authors present the anatomical findings that have made an easier approach to composite rhytidectomy possible. The lower lateral border of the orbicularis oculi muscle (OOM) overlies the zygomaticus major muscle (ZMM), the upper third of which tightly adheres to the malar bone. The OOM is innervated throughout over its circumference by a plexus of small facial nerve branches. From its deeper surface, the ZMM is innervated by two to four branches in its upper third and middle third. These branches are jeopardized in an extended sub-SMAS dissection as this tends to go deep into the ZMM. The malar fat pad is superficial to the SMAS layer that invests the zygomaticus and levator labii muscles and, with age, tends to slide downward, medially deepening the nasolabial folds. An extended dissection beyond the OOM tends to remain superficial to the upper part of the ZMM, zygomaticus minor, and levator muscle complex. We have found that extending the suborbicularis dissection inferiorly and laterally offers three major advantages: (1) The correct deep subcutaneous plane just above the ZMM, zygomaticus minor muscle, and levator complex can be found easily, leaving all of the fat attached to the skin. The only structures at risk are some minor motor branches to the OOM that can be divided without any morbidity because of the extensive plexiform innervation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Aged↗
PubMed1994

The surgical anatomy of the subcutaneous fascial system of the scalp.

The surgical anatomy of the fascial layers and vascularization of the scalp was studied by means of 11 bilateral cadaver dissections. This article is organized as follows: first, a description of the layers and fasciae of the scalp and their relationships with the main vascular structures, and then a description of the histological structure of the subgaleal fascia (composed of multiple connective vascularized sheets that glide over one another) and of its blood supply. In our dissections, we found the constant topographic distribution of the major perforant vessels to the subgaleal tissues as follows: in the temporal region, perforant vessels from the superficial temporal artery near and 10 to 14 cm above the zygomatic arch, where the superficial temporal artery leaves the surface of the galea to enter the superficial subcutaneous tissue, and in the fronto-parieto-occipital region, many small perforant vessels evenly entering the subgaleal plane every 5 to 10 mm. These findings could lead to greater use of fascial or composite flaps from the scalp region.

Arteries↗
PubMed1994

Reverse dorsal digital island flap.

The anatomic and clinical bases for a reliable and versatile homodigital flap for covering difficult distal dorsal and dorsolateral wounds of the long fingers are presented. This one-step procedure, which uses the dorsal skin of the first or second phalanx transposed as a reverse island flap, preserving the collateral nerve and artery to the fingertip, has proved valuable in salvaging the severely injured digits of nine patients (for a total of 12 flaps). It would seem to be a relatively simple way of achieving early recovery because it does not require distant flap reconstruction, the immobilization of adjacent digits, or homodigital flaps that might jeopardize an already injured finger. Furthermore, it reduces the time of hospitalization and improves patient welfare.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Spontaneous rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent malignant tumour of the liver. HCC has an incidence that changes with geographic areas (1.2-2.5% in western countries and 13-53% in Asia and Africa) as the risk of tumour bleeding. The patient arrives to the surgeon in emergency with no possibility of radical resection because of the patient's general conditions, the tumour's stage and the cirrhosis. Palliative treatments are: resection, direct suture of the bleeding tumour, artery embolization and selective binding of the hepatic artery. The Authors describe two cases of spontaneous rupture of HCC observed in the surgical department of Venice Hospital. A review of the literature is also reported.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗
PubMed1991

Tumor-associated trypsin inhibitor (TATI) in primary esophageal carcinoma.

Esophageal carcinoma has a catastrophic clinical course with a very low 5 year survival rate of 5%. A circulating tumor marker with good specificity and sensitivity would be useful in the management strategy of the disease. So far, no tumor marker effective in esophageal carcinoma has been identified. Preliminary reports suggest satisfactory positivity rates of tumor-associated trypsin inhibitor (TATI) in esophageal carcinoma. We measured TATI levels in 71 patients with primary squamous cell esophageal carcinoma as well as in 30 tissue samples from both carcinoma and normal esophageal mucosa. Detectable TATI levels were not found in tumor tissue samples. The marker showed significantly higher serum levels in patients than in controls, with an overall positivity rate of 28%. TATI levels were significantly lower in patients with a high number of tumor-positive lymph nodes. No relationship was found between TATI and several other clinical and pathological parameters. High TATI levels correlated with a lower probability of overall survival as well as in cases without clinical evidence of lymph node metastases. TATI did not show any relationship with CEA, TPA, ferritin or SCC. The results of the present study suggest that TATI shows a satisfactory positivity rate in esophageal carcinoma, and TATI levels are related to local disease spread and prognosis.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗
PubMed1990

Substrate availability other than glucose in the brain during euglycemia and insulin-induced hypoglycemia in dogs.

Alternative substrates other than glucose could be used by the brain. In this study we hypothesized that lactate and ketone bodies can provide a significant portion of oxidative brain substrates in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Six control (C) and six insulin-treated streptozotocin diabetic (IDDM) dogs were studied during euglycemia (EU) and acute insulin induced hypoglycemia (HYPO). During EU for similar plasma glucose concentration (5.5 +/- 0.4 v 5.2 +/- 0.2 mmol/L in IDDM dogs showed a higher baseline lactate concentration (1.5 +/- 0.25 v 0.74 +/- 0.10 mmol/L; P less than .05). The ketone body concentrations were also increased in IDDM dogs but this increase was not statistically significant. The brain glucose uptake was 6.9 +/- 0.6 mumol/kg/min in C and 5.4 +/- 0.7 in IDDM. Lactate was released by the brain both in IDDM dogs (11.36 +/- 1.8 mumol/kg/min) and in C dogs (3.87 +/- 0.9; P less than .05). The brain ketones rate of disappearance (Rd) was 0.3 +/- 0.05 mumol/kg/min in IDDM dogs and 0.19 +/- 0.08 in C dogs. During HYPO the glucose uptake across the brain was 2.88 +/- 0.7 mumol/kg/min in IDDM and 3.12 +/- 0.5 in C dogs. We observed an overall brain lactate release (3.21 +/- 1.7 mol/kg/min) in C dogs and a net uptake (13.44 +/- 1.1; P less than .01) in IDDM (P less than .01). The brain ketones Rd was 0.1 +/- 0.2 mumol/kg/min in IDDM and 0.1 +/- 0.1 in C dogs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

3-Hydroxybutyric Acid↗
PubMed1989

Tumor markers in serum of patients with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Serum levels of several tumor markers were studied in 96 patients with untreated primary squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Three markers specific for digestive tract malignancies--CEA, CA19.9 and CA50--and two non organ specific indicators of malignancy--ferritin and TPA--were evaluated. Positivity rates of CA19.9 and CA50 were very low (4.4% and 8.6% respectively); the markers were therefore considered ineffective in the disease. CEA, TPA and ferritin showed a fair positivity rate (27.1%, 28.1%, 33.7% respectively); CEA and TPA were directly related to clinical stage, CEA levels being significantly higher in stage IV than in stage III cases (p = 0.016). TPA preoperatory levels were also directly related to a lower survival probability (p = 0.004). CEA showed significantly lower levels in tumors of lower than in those of middle (p = 0.03) and upper esophagus (p = 0.004). TPA showed a similar behaviour with lower levels in tumors of lower than of middle esophagus (p = 0.03). These findings could be due to a bulky metabolism of tumor markers drained via portail vein in the liver. From our data the following conclusions may be drawn: 1) CEA and TPA may be useful in the staging of esophageal cancer as an ancillary tool to assess the extent of the disease; 2) tumor location is an important variable when evaluating blood levels of tumor markers in patients with esophageal cancer.

Adult↗