ABSTRACT
Objective:To introduce a surgical technique of implant-based immediate breast reconstruction using the "latent orifice" procedure after skin-sparing mastectomy and to investigate the clinical value of this procedure.Methods:Clinical data of 72 patients who underwent immediate breast reconstruction using the "latent orifice" procedure (we placed the silicone prosthesis in a "latent orifice" consisting of fascia and underlying muscles) from Jan. 2016 to Dec. 2019 were collected. Characteristics of surgical technique and the effect of the reconstruction surgery were analyzed.Results:70 patients underwent nipple-areola complex sparing mastectomy (NSM) . Two patients’ nipples were resected due to intraoperative frozen pathology suggesting carcinoma existing in the nipples. The nipple epidermal necrosis occurred in 3 patients. No seroma, incision infection or capsular contracture occurred. According to the evaluation scale, the overall aesthetic score was 9.39 points. The average score of each subscale was: 9.57 points for breast volume, 9.43 for breast contour, 9.84 for placement of implant, 9.38 for scars, 9.27 for lower pole projection and 9.21 for inframammary fold definition. BREAST-Q questionnaires were filled by patients. Scores of psychosocial well-being ranged from 62 to 93 points, with the median score of 77 points. Satisfaction with breasts scores ranged from 58 to 100 points, with the median score of 71 points.Conclusion:The "latent orifice" procedure is a simple, safe, practicable, aesthetic and satisfying type of immediate implant-based breast reconstruction, which is worth practicing and promoting.
ABSTRACT
The modeling of signal transduction pathways is a task of systems biology. However, such a task is very difficult because of the structure complexity, the strong nonlinearity of signaling pathways and the noised and incomplete measurements. The Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm (LM algorithm) is applied to estimate the unknown parameters of the signaling pathways. With this method, the identifiability of unknown parameters is appraised, and the sensitivity equations of original model are evaluated. Then we append the sensitivity equations to the original model in order to form the augmented model, and we apply the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm to the augmented model in order to estimate parameters. TNFalpha mediated NF-kappaB signaling pathway is taken as an example to illustrate the effectiveness of this method, and the simulation results are given.
