We analysed the records of 25 patients who had their upper lips reconstructed after resection of a tumour. All the repairs were done with triangular cutaneous and musculocutaneous flaps with a skin island with V-Y advancement, and a subcutaneous or muscular pedicle with or without mucosa. The choice of flap was based on the width of the defect after the tumour had been resected. A subcutaneous pedicled flap was used in 14 patients; a musculocutaneous flap not including the mucosa in 5, and including the mucosa in 6. This flap can be used to repair upper lip defects of any thickness. The procedure is quite safe from a circulatory point of view and the flap has the advantage of requiring only one procedure. It is aesthetically satisfactory in most patients and maintains the good function and sensitivity of the lip.
The frontal musculocutaneous island V-Y flap based on the supratrochlearis or the supraorbitalis vessels is safe and permits frontal reconstruction in a single procedure with proper maintenance of the aesthetic unit.
Melanoma is a serious skin cancer that, if found and treated in its early stages can be cured before it gets invasive and develops metastasis. The incidence of this disease has steadily increased in white populations throughout the world in the last decades. Although the basis for this rise is incompletely understood, it is known that solar exposure and genetic factors are important precursors of melanoma. Nowadays, some studies are correlating some trace elements in blood and tissues with the disease. In this work, trace element concentrations in blood serum of patients with melanoma where measured by PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) to verify if there is a link between the concentrations of elements in the blood serum and melanoma. If the hypothesis is proven, elements in the blood serum could also be used as markers for melanoma. The samples were collected in the São Paulo Hospital and analyzed by PIXE after an internal standard addition. Concentrations of Chlorine (Cl), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn) and Bromine (Br) were measured in serum of 30 patients with melanoma and 116 control individuals. The elemental concentrations were calculated relative to an internal Gallium standard. The accuracy of the method was verified analyzing an IAEA A-13 Blood (International Atomic Energy Agency) and a QMEQAS08S-06 serum (National Institute of Public Health). The results of this work showed no significant difference between melanoma and control group (independent t-test and U-test, p = 0.05).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.