Correction of the Lower Face and Neck.

Rejuvenation of the lower face and neck strives to reverse signs of aging while optimizing the patient's natural anatomy. Common features of an aesthetically pleasing lower face include a well-defined and appropriately balanced mandible and an acute cervicomental angle. Correction of the aging lower face and neck is accomplished through multiple surgical interventions, performed either alone or in combination. Determination of appropriate procedures is based on individual anatomic pathology. Intimate knowledge of facial anatomy and the complexity of the aging process is paramount to achieve a natural and aesthetic result. Thorough patient evaluation and counseling should precede any intervention. Specifically, the surgeon should be cognizant of the patient's skeletal structure, soft tissue distribution, muscular anatomy, and skin quality. Appropriate postoperative care and management of complications are vital to success.

Surgical Management of Postparalysis Facial Palsy and Synkinesis.

Modified selective neurectomy of the distal branches of the buccal, zygomatic, and cervical branches of the facial nerve in addition to platysmal myotomy is an effective surgical procedure for the treatment of postfacial paralysis synkinesis. Success of this procedure depends on identification of the peripheral facial nerve branches, preservation of zygomatic and marginal mandibular branches that innervate key smile muscles, and ablation of buccal and cervical branches that cause lateral and/or inferior excursion of the oral commissure. Results are long-lasting; objective improvements in electronic clinician-graded facial function scale score, House-Brackmann score, and decreased botulinum toxin-A requirements have been observed.

Cost effective use of audiograms after pediatric temporal bone fractures.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the relationship of pediatric temporal fractures to the incidence and type of hearing loss present. To analyze the timing and utility of audiometric testing in children with temporal bone fractures. METHODS: Retrospective case series of 50 pediatric patients with temporal bone fractures who were treated at an urban, tertiary care children's hospital from 2008 to 2014. A statistical analysis of predictors of hearing loss after temporal bone fracture was performed. RESULTS: Fifty-three fractures (69.7%) in 50 patients involved the petrous portion of the temporal bone. The mean age of patients was 7.13 years, and 39 (73.6%) were male. A fall was the most common mechanism of injury in 28 (52.8%) patients, followed by crush injury (n=14, 26.2%), and vehicular trauma (n=10, 18.9%). All otic capsule violating fractures were associated with a sensorineural hearing loss (n=4, 7.5%, p=0.002). Three of four otic capsule sparing fractures were associated with ossicular dislocation, with a corresponding mixed or conductive hearing loss on follow up audiometric testing. The majority of otic capsule sparing fracture patients (n=19/43, 44.2%) who had follow up audiograms had normal hearing, and those with otic capsule violating fractures were statistically more likely to have persistent hearing loss than those with otic capsule sparing fractures (p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with otic capsule violating fractures or those with ossicular disruption are at higher risk for persistent hearing loss. Cost-saving may be accrued by selecting only those patients at high risk for persistent hearing loss for audiometric testing after temporal bone fractures.