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Objective: There have been few reports addressing asymmetric bilateral cleft lip repair with contralateral lesser form defects. Two studies have described the thin medial tubercle as the most common remaining labial deformity. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the use of a foxtail-shaped vermilion flap to reconstruct the median tubercle in primary repair. Design: A blinded retrospective study of photography and chart review. Setting: Shinshu University Hospital, tertiary care. Private practice. Patients: Forty-nine patients with asymmetric bilateral cleft lip with lesser form defects treated using a primary “unilateral” repair by the senior author (S.Y.) between 2007 and 2017. Interventions: The foxtail-shaped vermilion flap was applied at the time of the primary nasolabial repair. This flap is similar to Noordhoff laterally based triangular vermilion flap but with modifications to the shape and length. The body of the flap is wider than the pedicle to add tissue to the center of the vermilion, and the length is sufficiently elongated to reach the lesser side. Main Outcome Measure: Lip shape was graded on a 4-point scale when patients were 1 year old. Results: Twenty-two patients were treated with the foxtail-shaped vermilion flap (group A) and 27 patients with Noordhoff triangular vermilion flap (group B). Group A had a better lip shape than group B ( P = .006). Conclusions: The foxtail-shaped vermilion flap is useful to reconstruct the median tubercle in asymmetric bilateral cleft lip repair with contralateral lesser form defects.

Fistula recurrence is high after secondary follow-up operation to close the fistula after primary palatal surgery. Therefore, preventing fistula recurrence is important. Here, we describe the technique of closing palatal fistula after palatal surgery with a buccal fat graft in 2 cases. We elevate the mucosal flap around the palatal fistula, suture the nasal mucosa, transplant the buccal fat between the nasal and oral mucosa for the palatal fistula after palatal surgery, and suture the oral mucosa. Palatal fistula did not recur after surgery. This method is simple and useful for suturable fistula and does not require a local flap.

Objective: In unilateral cleft lip and palate, the reconstructed nasal floor is sometimes uplifted regardless of the reconstructive method used. We used a 5-0 absorbable anchoring suture, the oronasal transfixion suture (ONT suture), to fasten the reconstructed nasal floor to the orbicularis oris muscle to prevent this deformity. This study was performed to evaluate the effects of the ONT suture. Design: Blind retrospective study of photography and chart review. Setting: Shinshu University Hospital, tertiary care, Nagano, Japan. Private practice. Patients: Ninety-three consecutive patients with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate who had undergone primary nasolabial repair in our department and affiliated hospitals between 1999 and 2011 participated in this study. Finally, 45 patients were included. Interventions: The ONT suture was put in place at the time of primary nasolabial repair. Main Outcome Measure: The height of the nasal floor was evaluated on submental view photographs at 5 years old. Results: The ONT suture was applied in 21 patients. The height of the nasal floor on the cleft side was significantly closer to that on the noncleft side with the ONT suture than without the ONT suture ( P = .008). Conclusions: The ONT suture is effective to prevent uplifted nasal floor deformity on the cleft side// in unilateral complete cleft lip and palate at the time of primary nasolabial repair.

Intensive treatment including surgery for patients with trisomy 13 (T13) remains controversial. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of noncardiac surgical intervention for T13 patients. Medical records of patients with karyotypically confirmed T13 treated in the neonatal intensive care unit in Nagano Children's Hospital from January 2000 to October 2016 were retrospectively reviewed, and data from patients who underwent noncardiac surgery were analyzed. Of the 20 patients with T13, 15 (75%) underwent a total of 31 surgical procedures comprising 15 types, including tracheostomy in 10 patients and gastrostomy in 4. Operative time, anesthesia time, and amount of bleeding are described for the first time in a group of children with T13. All the procedures were completed safely with no anesthetic complications or surgery-related death. The overall rate of postoperative complications was 19.3%. Patients receiving tracheostomy had stable or improved respiratory condition. Six of them were discharged home and were alive at the time of this study. These results suggest at least short-term safety and efficacy of major noncardiac surgical procedures, and long-term efficacy of tracheostomy on survival or respiratory stabilization for home medical care of children with T13. Noncardiac surgical intervention is a reasonable choice for patients with T13.

Previously, bilateral lateral vermilion border transposition flaps were reported to correct whistling lip deformity in patients with cleft lip. This study examined the long-term outcome in these patients and modified the procedure. Here, the use of this procedure is reported in 69 cleft lip patients. The follow-up period after the operation ranged from 4-14 years. In addition to the standard method, a unilateral flap was applied for asymmetrical vermilion and small bilateral flaps were applied to loosen the transverse tightness of the vermilion. The asymmetry of the tightness was improved in all patients. The reconstructed tubercle diminished in volume gradually over a few years postoperatively. Secondary deformities after its use were subtly everted tubercle during smiling (18.8%) and irregularities on the labial-free margin (21.7%). They were corrected by minor follow-up revision. Although it is necessary to wait several years until the postoperative shape has stabilised, this is a simple and widely available method to reconstruct a naturally-shaped vermilion in cleft lip patients.

Clinical and radiological diagnosis of infantile fibrosarcoma (IFS) is challenging because of its similarity to vascular origin tumors. Treatment involves complete resection. Although chemotherapy may allow more conservative resection, treatment guidelines are not strictly defined. One IFS patient with an unresectable tumor had disease progression during chemotherapy. A primary tumor sample showed high VEGFR-1/2/3 and PDGFR-α/β expression. After pazopanib therapy, most tumor showed necrosis within 29 days and could be removed completely, with no relapse in 8 months post-resection. When IFS features hypervascularity, VEGFR and PDGFR expression may be high, thus allowing consideration of VEGFR inhibitors such as pazopanib.

Functional roles of the perioral anatomical structures involved in breastfeeding were examined in newborn rat pups in which the hypoglossal (XII) and facial (VII) nerves had been resected at the neonatal stage. The XII nerve controls tongue movement and is comprised of two functionally distinct branches: the medial branch related to protrusion of the tongue and the lateral branch related to its retraction. Newborn rat pups with bilateral resection of either of the XII nerve components (main trunk: XII-trunk; medial branch: XII-med; lateral branch: XII-lat) failed to suckle milk and did not survive. Unilateral XII nerve-resected neonates showed different milk-suckling capabilities, which thus resulted in differences in survival rate (XII-trunk: 38%; XII-med: 24%; XII-lat: 92%) and postnatal growth during the postnatal 3 weeks until P21. Unilateral and bilateral resections of the VII nerve innervating the buccolabial musculature produced lowered suckling capabilities and retarded postnatal growth, although all pups showed 100% survival. The results indicate a crucial role of the tongue, especially of protruding muscular elements innervated by the XII-med nerve, in breastfeeding. The results also indicate differential effects of the VII and XII nerve components on suckling capability, survival, and postnatal growth of newborn rat pups.

Background/Purpose: The Nuss procedure involves elevation of the sternum using a pectus bar, which is subsequently removed after approximately 3 years. When removing the bar, the tip of 1 end of the bar is exposed, and then the body is changed to the lateral recumbent position to remove the bar along the body surface. However, changing body positions in a sterile manner is often difficult. In this report, the authors present a new technique using their original bender design with which pectus bars can be smoothly removed. Methods: After exposing the pectus bar by placing a skin incision in the same location as had been used for bar insertion, benders were inserted subcutaneously into the thoracic wall at both ends of the bar. The bar was then immobilized, straightened, and removed. No change of body position was required. Conclusions: Between 2002 and 2003, this technique was used on 10 patients, and the bars were removed easily from all patients. The new procedure uses benders at both ends of the pectus bar as supporting points. This reduces the force required to straighten the bar and stabilizes the bar during removal. Most importantly, our procedure eliminates the need for change of body position.

The tumescent technique, which involves injection of large volumes of dilute epinephrine solution into subcutaneous fat, has been shown to markedly increase the safety of liposuction surgery, which is associated with risks of blood loss. The authors use this technique during burn surgery and developed a practical method of determining the amount of solution injected. The authors have applied the tumescent technique consisting of subeschar infiltration of dilute epinephrine (1 mg/L) in thermoneutral (37 degrees C) saline. Preoperatively, a 5 x 5 cm square grid pattern is drawn on the burn wound, which facilitates estimation of the amount of infiltrated solution. The authors injected 20 ml of solution per square in the grid. Ten consecutive patients underwent 15 surgical procedures for tangential excision and split-thickness skin grafting. There were no complications during the intraoperative or postoperative period. Their method using a grid pattern drawn on the tissue being treated by the tumescent technique in burn surgery facilitates the excision of burn eschar.

Summary We report the long-term results of nail fusion plasty in eight duplicated thumbs. These eight cases were hypoplastic, with nails less than 80% the size of that on the normal side. We operated on these duplicated thumbs using a technique that we developed. We evaluated postoperative nail shape in our series using both our and Tada's scoring systems. The average follow-up period was 12 years. Excellent results were obtained in six cases, with natural-looking nails and even curvature. One case showed acceptable results. Only one case had uneven curvature and a gap in the nail. To reconstruct a natural-looking nail, it is important to correctly design and suture together two nails under no tension. To obtain one nail with even curvature, bones are left floating so that the nail can grow with a natural transverse curve without interference. This technique yielded promising results on long-term follow-up.

This study investigated the incidence of orbital emphysema in patients with fractures of the ethmoidal cells or maxillary sinus. We noted that mucosal destruction is essential for orbital emphysema to occur. Computed tomographic examination and intraoperative studies of 58 patients with orbital bone fracture were performed with the patients divided into 2 groups according to the location of the fracture lines. The incidences of orbital emphysema and of intrasinus hematoma were significantly higher in the group with medial orbital bone fracture of ethmoidal cells than in the group with maxillary sinus fracture, which indicates mucosal tear was significantly higher in the former group. Fractured lamina papyracea and intrasinus hematoma were observed in all cases with ethmoidal sinus fracture. On the other hand, intrasinus hematoma was not found in some cases with maxillary sinus fracture, blowout fracture of the orbital floor, or zygomatic bone fracture, while all cases with orbital emphysema were included in the cases with intrasinus hematoma. This suggests that the incidence of orbital emphysema depends on the occurrence of tearing of the mucosa of the paranasal sinus.