El colgajo fasciocutáneo en cono / Use of a new cone shaped flap to cover skin defects: experience in 108 patients

Background: A new type of fasciocutaneous flap with the shape of an ice cream cone that is formed by locally rotated and V-Y advance flaps joined together, that can be used to cover complex defects, was developed. Previously, the irrigation of these flaps was ascertained in the legs of ten corpses. Aim: To report the results with the use of this type of ice cream cone shaped flap. Material and Methods: Retrospective analysis of 108 patients aged 20 to 52 years (99 males) in whom an ice cream cone shaped flap was used. Results: The defects covered were located in the leg in 27 percent, in the ankle in 10 percent, in the sole in 9 percent, in the heel in 8 percent and in other locations in the rest of patients. Eighty flaps (74 percent) had a good evolution, 11 (10 percent) had a major dehiscence, 13 (12 percent) had a minor dehiscence and 4 flaps (4 percent) had necrosis. Conclusions: This ice cream cone shaped flap is easy to use, safe and devoid of complications in most cases.

Se presenta un colgajo no descrito previamente en la literatura internacional ni nacional. El colgajo se denomina "en cono" por la forma final que se obtiene un barquillo de helado con su bocado. Consta de 2 colgajos acoplados: uno de rotación local y otro un avance en V-Y, ambos fasciocutáneos. Para comprobar su irrigación se practicó disección anatómica de las piernas de 10 cadáveres frescos inyectando azul de metileno y bario en la arteria poplítea. El resultado demostró un rico y amplio plexo tanto infra como supra fascial que irriga muy bien la piel de ambos colgajos a nivel de 1/3 distal de la pierna. Se realizó también un análisis geométrico del avance en V-Y para demostrar como los tejidos pueden avanzar y para determinar las dimensiones que debe tener este colgajo. Se operó 108 pacientes con lesiones en diferentes partes del organismo con complicaciones de un 3,7 por ciento. Los resultados permitieron determinar que el colgajo en cono es versátil, reproducible, sencillo y seguro de realizar. Es un colgajo que servirá para que los cirujanos plásticos resuelvan complejos problemas quirúrgicos en forma muy segura y a bajo costo.

Mucocele apendicular / Mucocele of the appendix

El mucocele apendicular es una patología de baja frecuencia, estimándose en alrededor de un 0,3 por ciento de las apendicectomías. Desde el punto de vista histológico puede clasificarse en: hiperplasia focal o difusa de la mucosa, cistoadenoma mucinoso y cistoadenocarcinoma mucinoso. El cuadro clínico no es característico y puede presentarse como apendicitis aguda, tumor cecal, masa abdominal, cuadro obstructivo, urinario, ginecológico, colección intraabdominal o hallazgo por imágenes. Se presentan 10 pacientes con diagnóstico histopatológico de mucocele apendicular. La forma de presentación correspondió a apendicitis aguda en 4 casos, tumor cecal en 4 y colección intraabdominal en los 2 restantes. El dolor abdominal en FID se presentó en 4 pacientes. A todos los pacientes se les extirpó el apéndice, agregándose hemicolectomía derecha en un caso y resección parcial de ciego en 2 casos. La ecotomografía abdominal y la tomografía computada fueron útiles en el diagnóstico. Se recomienda la manipulación cuidadosa del apéndice, durante su extirpación, cuando se sospecha el diagnóstico, para evitar la siembra peritoneal. Los pacientes deben continuar en control periódico para descartar la presencia de otras lesiones neoplásicas sincrónicas o metacrónicas, como los adenocarcinomas de colón

Circulating intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and E-selectin in urological malignancies.

Several studies suggest that cellular adhesion molecules (CAM) play a role in cancer progression and metastasis. To evaluate the role of these molecules as possible tumor markers in patients with urological malignancies, we examined the serum levels of intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cellcular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and E-selectin in patients with renal cell-, bladder-, prostate- and testicular cancer. Serum levels of 237 patients with urological cancers, renal cell carcinoma (n = 47), bladder cancer (n = 81), prostate cancer (n = 87) and testicular cancer (n = 22) and a group of 41 patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) as well as a 42 healthy control persons were examined for CAMs by specific ELISA tests. Serum CAM concentrations of all tumor patients were compared with controls and within the group according to T stage, N stage, tumor grade and extent of distant metastasis. Our results demonstrate that ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 serum levels are not stage dependently elevated; in contrary, they demonstrate a wide range and are highly variable throughout the different cancer types. In renal cell cancer and in bladder cancer, there is a significant difference for ICAM-1 between controls and T3 and T4 and metastatic cancers. A similar difference was found for VCAM-1, however not for E-selectin in any tumor group. Testicular cancer and prostate cancer did not demonstrate any difference in CAM serum levels between patients with tumors and controls. In metastatic renal cell-, bladder- and prostate cancer, the serum levels of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 showed a tendency to correlate with the extent of metastatis although no statistical difference between patients with a single metastatic lesion and patients with multiple lesions could be demonstrated. The results of this study implicate a rather limited role of cellular adhesion molecules. Despite of significant ICAM-1 or VCAM-1 serum levels in some locally advanced tumors or metastatic disease, this observation does not provide enough relevant clinical information for use as tumor markers.