Sclerotherapy for Venous Malformations of the Pharynx or the Tongue Base Without Tracheostomy: Treatment Protocol With Intubation and Outcomes.

Venous malformations (VMs) occurring in the tongue base or pharynx are rare, but can cause airway obstruction. Considering the potential issues or morbidity related to surgical resection in the tongue or pharynx region, sclerotherapy is often preferred. We perform sclerotherapy for such lesions without conducting tracheotomy, but keep patients intubated for a certain period. Outcomes of sclerotherapy, and benefits and cautions related with our protocol were investigated.Our subjects were 10 cases in 9 patients who underwent sclerotherapy for VMs of the tongue base (6 patients) or pharynx (3 patients) from 2008 to 2017. One patient underwent treatment sessions twice. The sclerosants used were absolute ethanol (ET) (3 cases), 5% ethanolamine oleate (EO) (4 cases), or both ET and 5%EO (3 cases).In 5 of 9 patients, postoperative MRI was performed, which revealed lesion volume reduction by 12% to 47%. The intubation period varied according to the sclerosant used: ET, 5 to 11 days; 5% EO, 2 to 12 days; and combination of ET and 5% EO, 8 days. Postoperative complications included fever of unknown (n = 2), acute psychosis (n = 3), vocal cord paralysis (n = 2), and bradycardia induced from the use of a sedative agent (n = 1). One patient complained of mild transient swallowing difficulty that lasted for a month postoperatively.Although our method mandatorily requires careful postoperative management in an ICU, including sedation with anesthetic agents and artificial respiration by intubation for a certain period of time, no serious complications or post-therapeutic morbidities occurred.

Eyelid Thread-lifting Treatment for Periocular Infantile Hemangioma in an Extremely Premature Low-birth-weight Infant.

Periocular infantile hemangioma (IH) sometimes hinders proper eye opening and limits the visual field. Even short-term deprivation of hemilateral vision may cause amblyopia in infants during the visually sensitive period and, thus, necessitates prompt treatment. Propranolol is a commonly known remedy for IH, though it may not act sufficiently to rapidly resolve a vision-threatening critical condition in an infant. Low birth weight is a significant risk factor for IH incidence. Despite the high incidence, evidence-based treatment for IH in preterm infants has not been established. This report describes periocular IH of an extremely premature low-birth-weight infant (body weight: 526 g) whose lesion showed no reduction after oral administration of propranolol for 2 weeks but was successfully treated by topical steroid injection and eyelid thread-lifting management, with no eventual visual impairment.

Soft Tissue Reconstruction and Facial Reanimation With Bilateral Latissimus Dorsi Flaps After Extensive Resection of Head and Neck Arteriovenous Malformation: A Case Report.

We report a rare case of a 37-year-old man who presented with a huge arteriovenous malformation in the head and neck region. After resection, the 30 × 25 cm defect was reconstructed with a preexpanded musculocutaneous latissimus dorsi flap. The facial nerve had to be sacrificed during the resection, and smile reanimation was restored in a second operation with the contralateral latissimus muscle flap. A 15-cm length of thoracodorsal nerve was dissected and was anastomosed to the contralateral zygomatic branch in a single stage. He recovered well without any significant complications. At 6 years follow-up, there was no further growth of the arteriovenous malformation, and he had a spontaneous smile.

Features of wound healing shown by fibroblasts obtained from the superficial and deep dermis.

Dermal fibroblasts (DF) obtained from the superficial dermal layer and those from the deep dermal layer have different cellular functions. These differences are often associated with excessive scarring; they also influence early wound healing. We therefore investigated the differences between superficial and deep dermal fibroblasts with special emphasis on their contractile properties, and ability to produce connective tissue. We investigated their proliferation kinetics, ability to contract collagen lattices, and chronological mRNA expression of eight genes associated with wound healing. To estimate the changes in the differences between them during the early phase of wound healing, we investigated mRNA expression in bFGF supplemented medium because bFGF is a representative cytokine that is familiar to clinicians. Superficial DF proliferate faster than deep DF in culture, whereas deep DF are better at contracting collagen lattices than superficial ones. In realtime analysis of polymerase chain reaction, the expression of type I and III collagen, fibronectin, TGF ß1 and ß3, and connective tissue growth factor were higher in deep DF than in superficial DF, while the expression of TGF ß2 was higher in superficial DF. After bFGF supplementation, the relative dominance of mRNA expression between superficial and deep DF remained constant except for the expression of collagenase. According to our analysis, deep DF are superior to superficial DF at promoting wound healing (particularly contraction and production of connective tissue). The intradermal distribution of DF is appropriate for efficient wound healing.

Subcutaneous injection of normal saline prevents cutaneous complications of ethanol sclerotherapy for superficial vascular lesions: an experimental study.

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous sclerotherapy is an effective therapeutic option for the treatment of venous malformations. Absolute ethanol is used as a sclerotic agent because of its effectiveness but is often avoided for treatment of superficial lesions because of the possible risk of cutaneous necrosis. OBJECTIVE: A preclinical experimental study was performed to validate whether the cytotoxic effects of ethanol on surrounding healthy tissues could be diminished with prophylactic subcutaneous injection of normal saline above the vascular lesion immediately after intraluminal injection of ethanol by dilution. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The effect of normal saline dilution on cytotoxicity of ethanol to the main cells of the skin (fibroblasts and keratinocytes) were assessed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide colorimetric assay. Effects of subcutaneous injection of normal saline immediately after intraluminal ethanol injection were assessed in a newly developed animal experimental model using the rabbit auricular vein. RESULTS: Cytotoxic effects of ethanol were decreased by saline dilution in vitro. Subcutaneous injection of normal saline after intraluminal injection of ethanol prevented the cutaneous ulceration observed in all cases without subcutaneous injection of normal saline in our animal model. CONCLUSION: Subcutaneous injection of normal saline appears effective for preventing cutaneous complications after ethanol sclerotherapy for superficial vascular lesions.