Palatal fistulas: rare with the two-flap palatoplasty repair.

The purpose of this study was to examine the palatal fistula rate after repair with the two-flap palatoplasty technique. This is a retrospective review of 119 consecutive cleft-palate repairs performed over a 5-year interval by a single surgeon. The two-flap palatoplasty technique was used to provide tension-free, multilayer repairs. The age of these children at the time of repair ranged from 7 to 84 months (mode, 9 months). The initial follow-up visit occurred 2 to 12 weeks after the repair operation (mean, 4 weeks). The postoperative follow-up duration ranged from 7 to 48 months. This review of 119 cleft-palate repairs revealed a fistula rate of 3.4 percent (four fistulas in 119 repairs). This experience demonstrates the lowest reported palatal fistula complication rate with use of the two-flap palatoplasty technique.

A rare case of pneumosinus dilatans of the frontal sinus and review of the literature.

Pneumosinus dilatans is a rare condition of unknown etiology in which there is enlargement of the paranasal sinuses by air, with extension beyond the normal boundaries of bone. The authors present a case of pneumosinus dilatans of the frontal sinus and review the literature.

Modified Dakin's solution for cutaneous vibrio infections.

Vibrio species, specifically Vibrio vulnificus, are known to be endemic to warm saltwater environments. As a human pathogen they are capable of causing severe, progressive, necrotizing infections. The lesions are bullous in nature and often require wide surgical debridement due to the aggressiveness of this organism. The literature supports prophylactic antibiotic therapy for those with preexisting hepatic dysfunction or immunocompromise. The authors routinely implement prophylactic antibiotic coverage with doxycycline 100 mg every 12 hours for vibrio in patients with wounds exposed to or acquired in saltwater. In addition, they institute topical therapy with 0.025% sodium hypochlorite solution (modified Dakin's), based on their in vitro study of vibrio sensitivity to antimicrobials. Over the past 2 years, the authors have treated 10 patients with this protocol for cutaneous vibrio infections confirmed by quantitative cultures. None of these patients experienced progression of infection requiring operative debridement-contrary to the aggressive nature of this organism documented in other reports.

A rare case of atypical eccrine acrospiroma of the scalp and a literature review.

Acrospiromas are rare cutaneous lesions of eccrine sweat gland origin that are found most commonly on the extremities. The authors present a rare case of an atypical eccrine acrospiroma arising in the scalp, and a review of the literature.