Biomedical subjects

Mitchell H Brown

Publications and source records attributed to Mitchell H Brown.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Cohesive silicone gel breast implants in aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery.

BACKGROUND: Cohesive silicone gel breast implants are composed of a textured silicone elastomer shell and are filled with cohesive silicone gel. Cohesive gel is formed by increasing the number of cross-links between gel molecules, which results in an implant that has better retention of shape and is less likely to fold or collapse, especially in the upper pole. METHODS: The initial 150 consecutive patients who received cohesive gel breast implants by the senior author (Brown) were included in the study. A retrospective chart review was carried out to analyze patient demographics, diagnosis, indication for cohesive gel selection, procedure performed, implant selected, and complications. All implants were manufactured by Inamed Aesthetics and were either style 410, CML, or CMH. RESULTS: One woman underwent unilateral augmentation for breast asymmetry and 117 women underwent bilateral breast augmentation. Of the 235 implants used, all were model 410 anatomical implants, with the majority being MM, MF, FM, or FF styles. Complications occurred in four of 118 patients (3.4 percent). There was one immediate postoperative hematoma, two cases of unilateral Baker II contracture, and one case of asymmetry related to excessive lowering of an inframammary fold. There were no cases of rotation, malposition, infection, rippling, or loss of implant integrity. Thirty-two women underwent breast reconstruction with cohesive gel implants. A total of 50 implants were used in the 32 patients (27 style 410, 19 style CML, and four style CMH). Complications occurred in six of 32 patients (18.8 percent), although five of the six were minor and only one of 32 patients (3.1 percent) required a secondary procedure. There were two seromas, three capsular contractures, and one implant exposure following a skin-sparing mastectomy. CONCLUSIONS: Cohesive gel implants have the potential for providing a natural breast shape, minimizing the risk of postoperative rippling, and providing a greater degree of safety should the implant lose its integrity. The wide variety of implant shapes and sizes allows for great flexibility in reconstructive surgery, in cases of breast asymmetry, and in primary breast augmentation. Results in our initial 150 patients have been excellent, with a high degree of patient satisfaction, excellent aesthetic outcomes, and very few implant-related complications. Cohesive gel implants are likely to play an important role in aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery when silicone gel implants are reintroduced into the North American market.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Evaluating the effectiveness of a 2-year curriculum in a surgical skills center.

BACKGROUND: This study was a formative evaluation of a 2-year Surgical Skills Center Curriculum (SSCC) using objective measures of surgical performance and self-reported process-oriented evaluations. METHODS: Fifty postgraduate third-year (PGY-3) residents participated in an Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skills (OSATS) examination. Nineteen residents underwent the SSCC and 31 residents did not. During the SSCC, self-reported student and faculty evaluations were completed after each session. RESULTS: For the OSATS examination, scores were not significantly different between treatment and control groups, on either the checklist (66.4 +/- 6.1 versus 64.1 +/- 10.8) or global rating scale scores (66.9 +/- 6.9 versus 68.0 +/- 9.6). Further comparisons between groups on individual OSATS stations revealed no significant differences between groups. The majority of student and faculty evaluation remarks were highly positive. CONCLUSIONS: The OSATS results failed to support our hypothesis that training on a core procedure in a single session during a SSCC would have an appreciable and sustained effect after 2 years. Self-reported process-oriented evaluations support the utility of our SSCC.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed2002

Microbial growth in saline breast implants and saline tissue expanders.

The subject of microbial growth within the saline medium of prosthetic breast implants has been one of great controversy in recent years. Although several articles have described microbial growth within the tissue surrounding implanted breast prostheses, few have attempted to determine the possibility of such contamination of the luminal saline. The authors studied the intraluminal saline medium of a series of explanted breast prostheses with the objective of identifying any microbial contamination. Over a 6-month period, a consecutive series of saline-filled breast implants and tissue expanders were removed from 37 patients. Under the supervision of a microbiologist, saline extracted from each implant was subjected to bacterial and fungal cultures, Gram staining, and acid-fast staining. A total of 24 saline-filled breast implants were removed from 15 patients, and 32 saline-filled tissue expanders were removed from 22 patients. The average length of implantation was 28.1 months for the implants and 7.1 months for the expanders. None of the saline within the implants or expanders within our series displayed any evidence of microbial contamination. These results suggest that microbial contamination of the luminal saline of prosthetic breast implants is an extremely unlikely event.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Reconstructive breast surgery: referring physician knowledge and learning needs.

Despite the positive impact that reconstructive breast surgery can have on a woman's quality of life, the percentage of eligible candidates that have this procedure remains surprisingly low. The authors hypothesized that this may be attributable to inadequate knowledge, inadequate information, and/or misinformation available to physicians caring for these patients. A needs assessment of primary care physicians, general surgeons, oncologists, and plastic surgeons was conducted to determine referring physicians' current level of knowledge of reconstructive breast surgery and to discover potential learning needs. This comprised a survey, focus groups, and individual interviews. Referring physicians rated their own knowledge of reconstructive breast surgery as low. Plastic surgeons rated their referring physicians' knowledge as even lower. Specific learning needs were identified, as large discrepancies between referring physicians' self-reported knowledge of individual breast reconstruction topics and their own opinion of their relevance were revealed. In addition, despite evidence to the contrary, more than one-third of referring physicians indicated a belief that a breast reconstruction delayed the detection of local cancer recurrence and adversely interfered with adjuvant oncologic therapy. This lack of knowledge and misinformation may be negatively affecting patient referrals to plastic surgeons, as more than one-third of referring physicians and 90 percent of plastic surgeons believed that eligible candidates were not being offered referrals because of inadequate referring physician knowledge of this topic. Furthermore, patients older than 49 years were not being referred despite the fact that plastic surgeons would consider these patients as potential surgical candidates. Referring physician gender affected both referral patterns and perceived importance of reconstructive breast surgery. Finally, personal beliefs and past experiences played a role both in physicians' decisions to refer patients and in patients' decisions to have breast reconstructions. These deficiencies in information, knowledge, and learning needs should be addressed by educational interventions during residency training and through continuing education endeavors.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗