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Background: Repair of total human ear loss due to trauma, cancer, or congenital lack of ears is one of the challenging issues in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Reconstruction of the human ear with costal cartilage has been introduced by Tanzer, Brent, Firmin, Nagata, and others but needs two to four sessions of operation and had some morbidity in donor site. Newer techniques focused on using stem cells. The best option for regeneration of ear cartilages is bone marrow stem cells. They can be cultured in chondrogenic media or co-culture with chondrocytes or cultured in a cartilage extracellular matrix or cartilage scaffold. Therefore they can multiply, differentiate, and produce millions of chondrocytes from the patient’s own stem cells. These cells will be seeded over an external or internal framework, and with the help of in vivo culture, a new cartilage with special configuration of ear framework would be regenerated. These frameworks should go under maturation process and can be used as a new ear framework for reconstruction of a missed ear.

Repair of total human ear loss or congenital lack of ears is one of the challenging issues in plastic and reconstructive surgery.The aim of the present study was 3D reconstruction of the human ear with cadaveric ear cartilages seeded with human mesenchymal stem cells.We used cadaveric ear cartilages with preserved perichondrium. The samples were divided into 2 groups: group A (cartilage alone) and group B (cartilage seeded with a mixture of fibrin powder and mesenchymal stem cell [1,000,000 cells/cm] used and implanted in back of 10 athymic rats). After 12 weeks, the cartilages were removed and shape, size, weight, flexibility, and chondrocyte viability were evaluated. P value0.05 was considered significant.In group A, size and weight of cartilages clearly reduced (P 0.05) and then shape and flexibility (torsion of cartilages in clockwise and counterclockwise directions) were evaluated, which were found to be significantly reduced (P 0.05). After staining with hematoxylin and eosin and performing microscopic examination, very few live chondrocytes were found in group A. In group B, size and weight of samples were not changed (P 0.05); the shape and flexibility of samples were well maintained (P 0.05) and on performing microscopic examination of cartilage samples, many live chondrocytes were found in cartilage (15-20 chondrocytes in each microscopic field).In samples with human stem cell, all variables (size, shape, weight, and flexibility) were significantly maintained and abundant live chondrocytes were found on performing microscopic examination. This method may be used for reconstruction of full defect of auricles in humans.

Defining the epidemiology and outcome of geriatric burn patients is critical for specialized burn centers, health-care workers, and governments. Better resource use and effective guidelines are some of the advantages of studies focusing on this aspect. The outcome of these patients serves as an objective criterion for quality control, research, and preventive programs. We used data from the burn registry program in our country. For 2 years, >28,700 burn patients were recorded, 1721 of whom were admitted. Among them, 187 patients were ≥55 years old. Sixty-nine percent of patients were male and 31% female, with a male to female ratio of 2.22:1. The mean±standard deviation (SD) of age was 63.4±8.1. The cause of burns was flame (58.2%) and scalds (20.3%). Most of the burns were sustained at home. The mean duration of hospital stay was 19.5 days (range 3-59 days). The mean (SD) of the total body surface area (TBSA) was 20.3% (8.4%). The median hospital stay (length of stay (LOS)) was 11 days (SD=14). The increase in TBSA was related to a longer LOS (p

Summary Aim of study Women with breast hypertrophy often experience a number of physical symptoms and psychological difficulties. The breasts are very important for the psychological well-being of women, which might be affected negatively because of breast size and shape distortions. Self-body dissatisfaction and, in this background, the breasts can lead to low levels of self-confidence and self-esteem, which might affect sexuality. Materials and methods Thirty-five women with macromastia and their partners were evaluated for their sexual function and surgery satisfaction before and 6 months following reduction mammaplasty. Physical status and sexual satisfaction were assessed using a questionnaire. In addition, the sexual function of the women and their partners was evaluated using the Index of Female Sexual Function (IFSF) and the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF). Result There was a significant improvement in the mean IFSF and IIEF scores after surgery in both patients and their partners. In addition, patients expressed high levels of satisfaction with the results of surgery in terms of physical and psychological scores. Conclusion Reduction breast surgery has a positive impact on the health status and psychological function as well as on the sexual activity of patients and their partners.

Tissue expansion has evolved reconstruction surgery by providing a great source of additional tissue for large skin defects. Nevertheless, wide application of tissue expander reconstruction is challenging due to high complication rates and uncertainty about final outcomes. Recently, endoscopy has shown promise in reconstructive surgeries using tissue expander placement. This study aimed to compare outcomes between open and endoscopic-assisted neck tissue expander placement in reconstruction of post-burn facial scar deformities. Through a randomized clinical trial, 63 patients with facial burn scars were assigned to an open group or endoscopic group for placement of 81 tissue expanders. The complication rate, operative time, length of hospital stay, and time to full expansion were compared between the two groups. Thirty-one patients were assigned to the open group and 32 patients to the endoscopic group. The average operative time was significantly reduced in the endoscopic group compared with the open group (42.2 ± 3.6, 56.5 ± 4.5 min, p

Background: Palatal fistulas occur most commonly as a complication of cleft palate surgery. Treatment of these fistulas, especially when they are wide and scarred, is a challenge for both patients and plastic surgeons, with a high rate of recurrence. Methods: The authors have operated on 22 cases of wide, scarred, recurrent palatal fistula with the use of the facial artery musculomucosal flap, first introduced by Pribaz et al. in 1992. The patients were operated on from March of 2001 to December of 2002 and ranged in age from 2 to 21 years. This flap is axial, centered over the facial artery, and can be raised inferiorly based or superiorly based. All of these patients with cleft palate had been operated on before. In one case, because of a very wide fistula, a bilateral facial artery musculomucosal flap was used. Results: There were two cases of partial necrosis and one case of complete failure, probably caused by twisting of the whole pedicle. The nasal lining was made using turndown flaps of the fistula margin. Because of hanging the base of the flap (inferiorly based) and producing bite block during mastication, the pedicle had to be divided and the flap inset secondarily 1 month later. Conclusions: The facial artery musculomucosal flap is an alternative for closing the scarred, wide, recurrent fistula, and is associated with a high rate of success. The flap should be included among the techniques of any plastic surgeon who performs palatal surgery.