Management of Fournier's gangrene non-healing wounds by autologous skin micrograft biotechnology: a new technique.

Fournier's gangrene is an acute bacterial infection producing necrosis of the perineum and external genitalia that generally affects elderly men. Although skin grafts and flaps are the standard procedure for reconstruction, sometimes wounds can become chronic. Rigenera Protocol is a new technique based on autologous skin micrografts that reactivates and supports wound healing. A 40-year-old male with Fournier's gangrene, due to a rectal microperforation following diarrhoea, was treated with surgical debridement, negative pressure wound therapy and subsequently coverage with skin grafts. He developed non-healing wounds treated by Rigenera protocol after two months of advanced wound dressings. This technique is based on skin micrografts obtained by mechanical dermal disgregation to provide mesenchymal stem cells and extracellular matrix to the wound. The suspension injected into the wound triggers reactivation of healing without significant residual scarring on both donor site and treated area. Non-healing wounds were reduced by 15% at day 7 and by 50% after 30 days. Wounds completely healed after seventy days. The regenerated tissue appeared closer to skin graft than to scar tissue. This report shows how the use of skin micrografts through Rigenera protocol can be a useful method to reactivate wound healing resulting from Fournier's gangrene, with no discomfort for patient in a practical, safe and easy way.

A retrospective study on mesh repair alone vs. mesh repair plus pedicle flap for large incisional hernias.

OBJECTIVE: Our experience with the treatment of large incisional hernias (IH) was reviewed comparing mesh repair alone vs. mesh repair plus pedicle flaps. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on patients treated between 2001 and 2005 that underwent component separation technique (CST) repair with polypropylene mesh alone or with polypropylene mesh and local "pedicle" dermal flaps. The primary outcome evaluated was the recurrence rate, secondary outcomes the complication rate, hospital stay and reoperation rate. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients were reviewed. Six patients (13%) developed an IH recurrence, two of them (4%) required secondary repair. CST combined with prosthetic mesh repair and pedicle flap was performed in 19 patients (39.6%) while CST combined with mesh repair alone in 29 patients (60.4%). The duration of surgery, hospitalization, postoperative complications as well as long-term results were similar. CONCLUSIONS: Dermal pedicled flaps obtained through deepithelization of redundant skin following corrections of large incisional hernias are a safe, relatively easy and effective technique that allows reliable soft tissue coverage of the abdominal submuscular mesh.

Augmentation mammaplasty with a new cohesive gel prosthesis.

We present our experience with augmentation mammaplasty on 14 patients with a thin chest wall and poor subcutaneous tissue. Thanks to Polytech Silimed code 20675, a new anatomical prosthesis filled with "soft" cohesive gel, the lodging in a subglandular position was possible without anomalous salience in the upper pole, and a more natural mammary profile was achieved without capsular contracture, dislocation, or misplacement of the mammary implants.

[Cranioplasty with polymethylmethacrylate. The clinico-statistical considerations]. / Cranioplastica con polimetilmetacrilato. Considerazioni clinico-statistiche.

BACKGROUND: The main purpose of the reconstruction of the cranium is the protection of the brain. Besides we have to consider important functional and aesthetic necessities in order to achieve satisfactory results. METHODS: Thirty-six clinical cases, operated from November 1991 to June 1996, in which the reconstruction of the cranial vault is carried out by a polymethylmethacrylate acrylic resin are analysed. The causes and locations of the most common bone defects and the main indications for reconstruction are examined. While the repair of the osseous gaps caused by neoplasms is immediate, in the traumatic occurrences, in order to reduce the probability of infectious complications, an average time of 11 months elapsed from the first operation. The surgical technique, with slightest alterations, is the same in all the presented cases, preparing the acrylic resin straight on the operating table. The resin, moulded and adapted to the defect until its complete hardening, presents, thanks to its properties, manifold advantages (and few real disadvantages). RESULTS: The results, in terms of complications, are very satisfactory, with an infectious rate of 2.7%. Besides, in one third of the patients, a considerable clinical improvement after the repair has been observed. CONCLUSIONS: According to personal experience, it is possible to affirm that polymethylmethacrylate, with its remarkable plasticity and stability in time, can always guarantee a satisfactory functional and aesthetic result.

[Lymph node biopsy in HIV-3-positive patients: the practical considerations]. / Biopsia linfonodale in pazienti HIV 3-positivi: considerazioni pratiche.

We propose a step-by-step procedure for biopsy of lymph nodes in patients carrying anti HIV 3 antibodies. The procedure involves the use of a fully disposable operating set and instruments. It was used in 57 cases spanning a two years trial.

[Lymph node and cutaneous biopsies in AIDS treatment]. / Biopsia linfonodale e cutanea nel trattamento dell'AIDS.

In AIDS lymph node biopsy is important both for grading and for differential diagnosis. Skin biopsy is used for identifying Kaposi's sarcoma, which is present in about a third of AIDS cases. Authors have performed 69 biopsies in local anaesthesia taking the necessary precautions as for HBsAg-positive subjects.