[Place of 3D custom-made implants after failure of modeling steno-chondro-plasties]

Most common congenital malformation of the thorax, Pectus Excavatum affects about one in 500 people. Several surgical or medical techniques have been proposed. Some are followed by complications or insufficient results even though their constant functional value is highly controversial. Secondary surgery with a deep customized 3D elastomer implant, may be an elegant effective and safe solution compared to others; it allows a good aesthetic result expected by patients in the absence of any respiratory or cardio-vascular functional context.

Feasibility, reproducibility, risks and benefits of face transplantation: a prospective study of outcomes

Composite tissue allotransplantations can be indicated when autologous transfers fail to restore human appearance. We report the reproducibility, difficulties, serious adverse events and outcomes of our patients. Five patients were included in a registered clinical research protocol after thorough screenings assessed by an independent expert committee systematically discussing the alternative options. One patient suffered from plexiform neurofibromas, two from third degree burns and two from gunshot injuries. They were included on a national waiting list with a dedicated face procurement procedure. Transplants were harvested from heart beating brain-dead donors before other tissues and organs. Induction immunosuppressive therapy included antithymocyte globulins, steroids, mycophenolate mophetil and tacrolimus. Maintenance therapy included the last three ones associated with extracorporeal-photopheresis. Four patients were transplanted with 7- to 38-month follow-up. One could not due to multiple panel reactive antibodies after 18 months on waiting list. Acute cellular rejections were controlled by conventional treatment. Opportunistic infections affected all patients and lead one patient to die two month after the transplantation. Voluntary facial activity appeared from 3 to 5 month. Face transplantation has been reproducible under conventional immunosuppression. Major improvements in facial aesthetic and function allowed patients to recover social relations and improved their quality of life.

[Preoperative angiographic CT-scan for perforator flap transfer. Clinical applications in an emergency unit of reconstructive surgery: four clinical cases]

Our experience of the deep inferior epigastric artery perforator flap has led us to perform systematically an abdominal CT-scan for the pretherapeutic checking. This exam gives us a precise vascular mapping of musculocutaneous and septocutaneous perforators artery of the flap, may enable a better orientation in the dissection and reduce the surgery time. We have enlarged the indication of this exam to the members flaps who needs the dissection of a musculocutaneous or a septocutaneous perforators vessels: Nakajima's et al. classification [1]. The mapping of perforating vessels on 3D reconstruction pictures helps us to planify the vascular cutaneous autologous grafts.

[Complications of injections of hypoosmotic solutes in an underage patient]

Liposuction represents the standard surgical treatment of localized fat excess. Some non-plastic-surgery-board-certified practitioners are likely to offer non-invasive alternatives treatments. We report the clinical case of a 14-year-old female patient who followed a Lipectomy treatment. The Lipectomy technique consists in a hypodermic injection of hypotonic solutions in order to obtain an adipocytes lysis by osmotic shock. No PubMed referenced scientific publication is related to the efficacy or the tolerance of this technique. Postoperative evolution was marked by a polymicrobial subcutaneous abscess that needed two surgical evacuations and 10 days of overnight stay in our department. Through this clinical case, we evoke the possible dangers linked to the application of a non-evaluated medical technique and the necessity of establishing an official validation agency related to innovative techniques in aesthetic medicine and surgery.