Sternal wound infection is a life-threatening complication after cardiac surgery associated with high morbidity and mortality. Past treatment options have included closed suction and continuous irrigation. Current paradigms in the management of sternal wound infection include surgical debridement, vacuum-assisted closure therapy, flap coverage, and sternal plating. We provide a general overview of sternal wound infection and treatment options for the plastic surgeon.
Pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH) is a benign proliferation of breast stromal cells with a complex pattern of interanastomosing spaces lined by myofibroblasts and is most commonly seen in women of child-bearing age. PASH is a frequent incidental microscopic finding in breast biopsies. Nodular PASH, however, resulting in a clinically appreciable mass and rapid growth is a rare entity, with only four such patients cited in the literature. Surgical excision results in a cure in the majority of cases, with a recurrence rate of approximately 7-22%. We report a case of a 12-year-old girl with nodular PASH who presented with bilateral breast enlargement refractory to surgical excisions, eventually requiring bilateral mastectomies. To our knowledge, our patient is the youngest patient to have nodular PASH and to undergo bilateral mastectomies.
ADSCs can be readily cultured, encapsulated, and injected in alginate microspheres. Stem cells suspended in alginate microspheres survive in vivo and are seen to replicate in vitro.
The aim of this study was to establish a critical-sized nonjoint chondral defect animal model and to evaluate its feasibility for testing cartilage regeneration strategies. Dermal biopsy punches 1-4 mm in diameter were used to create cylindrical full-thickness defects in the center of athymic rat xiphoids. The 3 and 4 mm defects remained unhealed 35 days postsurgery, with a large area in the center that had low proteoglycan content based on contrast-enhanced microCT (EPIC-microCT), radiographic, and histological analyses. In a second step, tissue-engineered cartilage was synthesized by culturing primary bovine articular chondrocytes on poly-L-lactic acid (PLA) scaffolds in a perfusion-shear bioreactor for 28 days. These chondrocyte/PLA constructs or primary bovine chondrocytes were implanted into 3-mm-diameter defects. Empty defects and defects implanted with empty PLA scaffolds were used as controls. Xiphoids were harvested 28 days after surgery and examined with faxitron, microCT, and histology using hematoxylin and eosin and safranin-O staining. Both chondrocyte/PLA constructs and chondrocytes alone formed neocartilage. The results indicate that a 3 mm cylindrical defect in a rat xiphoid is an economic, feasible, and reproductive model to evaluate the potential of various constructs for nonjoint cartilage repair.
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.