Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a prothrombotic condition that can affect both the venous circulation and the arterial system. The deep veins of the lower extremities and cerebral blood flow are the most common sites of venous and arterial thrombosis, respectively. Skin ulceration and gangrene may be associated with an active vasculitis in patients with APS. These kinds of ulcers are considered intractable because healing is difficult to achieve. Using steroids as immunesuppressant therapy is still a basic part of managing APS and vasculitis. Nevertheless, in the presence of steroid-induced diabetes mellitus, the priority is to achieve faster wound healing, because of the potential complications that can develop due to metabolic dysfunction and augmented vulnerability to infection. Until recently, there were few reports demonstrating the benefits of the use of adjuvant phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors like sildenafil citrate in different clinical entities with courses like Raynaud's phenomenon, scleroderma, and resistance to vasodilator therapy. We present the first report demonstrating the additional benefit of sildenafil citrate for the integration of grafts in a patient with steroid-induced diabetes and APS who had ulcers due to vasculitis resistant to the usual vasodilator therapy.
Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, representing a major public health problem. There is still little information comparing the satisfaction of the patients who finished their process against the ones who start it but did not finish it. The aim of our retrospective study was to analyze the results in terms of satisfaction after one year of undergoing to complete breast reconstruction (CBR) vs incomplete breast reconstruction (IBR). Materials and Methods: Retrospective study of patients that underwent breast reconstruction (BR) surgery after mastectomy for breast cancer treatment. Performed at Hospital Central Sur de Alta Especialidad PEMEX in Mexico City, including patients from January 1, 2015 to January 01, 2020. Demographic baseline variables were included. BREAST-Q satisfaction questionnaires one year after the last reconstructive procedure were analyzed. Results: A total of 44 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these 44 patients, 11 were included in the IBR group, and 33 patients in the CBR group. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of age (IBR 56.09 vs CBR 53.06 years, p = 0.321); BMI (IBR 27.94 vs CBR 26.40, p = 0.253), time from mastectomy to first reconstructive procedure (IBR 22.8 vs CBR 31 months, p = 0.957), history of chemotherapy (IBR 27.3% vs CBR 33.3%, p = 0.709) and radiotherapy (IBR 54.5% vs CBR 42.4%, p = 0.484), additionally type of reconstruction, affected side or complication rate were not significantly different.
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.