PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

S Denton

Publications and source records attributed to S Denton.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

An audit of outcome including patient satisfaction with immediate breast reconstruction performed by breast surgeons.

Reconstruction of the female breast is becoming ever more frequently requested by patients after mastectomy for cancer. One of the least complex techniques is that of local tissue expansion with a permanent prosthesis. We present our experience and the clinical outcomes of the first 100 patients to have undergone surgery in the 4 years since the introduction of this method of breast reconstruction in our unit. A retrospective study was performed with a detailed questionnaire being sent to each patient for subjective assessment of satisfaction. Data were also collected on the rates of clinical infection of the prosthesis and the need for further surgery, including capsulotomy, nipple reconstruction and contralateral procedures. With 84% expressing their satisfaction at the final result, immediate breast reconstruction is both feasible and highly acceptable to the majority of patients.

Adult↗

Clinical audit of a specialist symptomatic breast clinic.

The efficient delivery of health care requires vigilant quality assurance. We describe the audit of our symptomatic breast clinic, which includes the option of a one-stop diagnostic service. A total of 134 new and 386 follow-up patients attended over four consecutive clinics. The majority of new referrals (68%) were seen by a consultant surgeon. Urgent referrals were seen significantly sooner than routine referrals (P < 0.001, chi 2-test), and the mean wait from designated appointment to seeing the surgeon was 37.6 (range-68 to 171) min. One-stop investigations were offered to 50 patients; of these, 36 women (72%) had a total wait of less than 2 h. For those not investigated at the same clinic, the mean time until investigations was 6.1 (range 0-36) days and mean recall was 2.7 (range 1-8) weeks. Patients undergoing definitive surgery for cancer (n = 5) were operated on average 14.2 (range 7-27) days after the decision was made in outpatients, while the mean waiting time for non-cancer operations was 49.7 (range 15-98) days. Objective audit on outpatient services is possible and can lead to improvement of services.

Adult↗

A low cost modification of an old Leksell stereotactic frame to allow CT-guided stereotaxy.

The high cost of commercial CT-compatible stereotactic frames has restricted the availability of CT-guided stereotaxy for many neurosurgical centres. However, many of these centres do possess the standard stereotactic frames for projection radiography, of which the old type Leksell frame is probably the most common. We have devised a simple and low-cost modification to an old Leksell frame to allow CT-guided stereotaxy. The nature of the modifications allow complete freedom of positioning of the frame relative to the CT scanner and coordinate transformations can be performed simply and effectively. The modified frame has been used successfully for some 18 months and the modification has now been performed at two centres in the North West Regional Health Authority. We hope this modification will allow many other centres to embark on CT-guided stereotaxy.

Adult↗