Objective To investigate the change law of the intracapsular pressure in vitro without outside force and the pressure of the expander upon the skin soft tissue in vivo during clinical routine expansion so as to provide some references for the safe application of the expander. Methods The rectangle expanders of 50, 80, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, and 400 mL were used for in vitro expansion at room temperature to 400% volume of the expander capacity. The pressures before and after saline injection were recorded. Twelve patients who needed scar plastic surgery were enrolled; 17 rectangle expanders were implanted in 5 areas (cheek, trunk, forehead and temporal, limb, and head) and expanded routinely. The pressures before and after saline injection were recorded. The pressure of the expander upon the skin soft tissue was calculated and the values of the pressure at 50%, 100%, 150%, and 200% volume of 5 areas were chosen and analyzed statistically. Results The intracapsular pressure of the expanders at different volumes in vitro without outside force during routine expansion before and after saline injection was beyond 0 mm Hg (1 mm Hg=0.133 kPa) at around 100% volume, increased rapidly from 100% to 250% volume, and kept stable from 250% to 400% volume. In vivo, 16 expanders within 200% volume had the maximum pressure before saline injection, 15 had the maximum pressure after saline injection. Before saline injection, the pressure of the expander upon the skin soft tissue was lowest in the cheek, showing significant difference when compared with those of the forehead and temporal and head (P lt; 0.05); the pressure in the trunk was significantly lower than that in the head (P lt; 0.05); and there was no significant difference between the other body sites (P gt; 0.05). After saline injection, the pressure of the expander upon the skin soft tissue was lowest in the cheek, and showed an increasing trend in the trunk, the limb, the forehead and temporal, and the head; no significant difference was found between in the cheek and in the trunk, and between in the forehead and temporal and in the limb (P gt; 0.05), and significant differences were found between the other body sites (P lt; 0.05). Conclusion The pressure of expander upon skin soft tissue at early stage or middle stage is higher than that at late stage during expansion. The pressure is high in the head, and low in the cheek comparatively, and the pressures in the trunk, the forehead and temporal, and the limb are between them.
To evaluate an improved treatment of an autologous fat injection for hemifacial atrophy to increase the survival rate of the fat graft and decrease complications including colliquation, necrosis, and absorption of the graft fat. Methods From March 1999 to October 2004, 31 patients with hemifacial atrophy underwent an improved treatment by an autologous fat injection for their diseases. There were 12 males and 19 females aged 1928 years (average, 23.5 years). The patients were divided into the following 3 groups according to the atrophy extent: the mild group (n=9), the moderate group (n=19), and the severe group (n=3). Based on the previous researches on the fat transplantation techniques, the improved treatment combined the following strategies that were simply called “3L3M”: low position for the fat donation, low pressure for the fat harvesting, and lowspeed centrifugation for purification of the fat; multipoint, multitunnel, and multiplane for injections of the fat graft. The preoperative and the postoperative photos were taken and the findings were compared to make clear whether the hard and firm masses and cysts existed; then, the decision was made about whether the patients needed another operation according to whether the patients had a natural facial expression and whether the patients had comfortable feelings as well as the ray findings. Results All the patients had a satisfactory symmetrical face after 1 injection of the fat in 15 patients, 2 injections in 13 patients, and 3 injections in 3 patients. The effect of the 3rd injection was better than that of the 2nd injection; the effect of the 2nd injection was better than that of the 1st injection; the fat volume for the injection could be gradually decreased. The fat volumes for injections were as follows: 814 ml (average, 11 ml) in the submaxillary region, 1525 ml (average, 20 ml) in the buccal region, 510 ml (average, 75 ml) in the zygomatic region, and 1820 ml (average, 19 ml) in the forehead region. The followup for 35 years revealed that there wasno infection, hard and firm mass, cyst or other complications. The pigmentationin the affected face was significantly improved. Conclusion Compared with the traditional treatments, the improved treatment of an autologousfat injection for hemifacial atrophy can achieve a satisfactory symmetry of theface with no injury to the donor site or complications in the recipient site. This improved method is an ideal treatment for hemifacial atrophy.
Objective To review the current progress of human facial allotransplantation in China and the other countries. Methods The recent literature concerned with human facial allotransplantation was extensively reviewed and briefly summarized. Results According to the literature reviewed, the main issues could be divided into four categories: technical aspects,immunological aspects,psychological and social issues ethicaland legal problems related to facial allotransplantation. However, because of the complexity of the human facial allotransplantation, which involved many problems related to immunity, psychology, society, ethics, etc., there was much controversy in this field. Conclusion In spite of the existent problems, facial allotransplantation in humans has still benefited the patient whose face is severely disfigured.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of tissue specificity of neurotropism in peripheral nerve regeneration, we investigated the biological characteristics of the nerve regeneration conditioned fluids(NRCF) on motoneuron of SD rats cultured in vitro. METHODS: Silicon chambers were sutured respectively to the distal stumps of motorial branch of femoral nerve and saphenous nerve to collect NRCF, namely MD-NRCF and SD-NRCF. The rats cortex motoneuron were divided into 4 groups and cocultured with MD-NRCF, SD-NRCF, b-FGF and serum-free medium respectively. The cultured cells were photoed under phase-contrast microscope, their longest neurites and cell-body areas were measured by cell image processing computer system. MTT automated colorimetric microassay was also adopted to quantify the activation of cultured motoneurons in each group. RESULTS: Cells of MD-NRCF group had longer neurites than those of the other three groups, and their activation was also superior to those of the other groups. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that MD-NRCF has more significantly neurite-promoting and neurobiological effects on motoneuron than SD-NRCF and b-FGF.
Objective To summarize the gene therapy strategies for neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and related research progress. Methods The recent literature on gene therapy for NF1 at home and abroad was reviewed. The structure and function of the NF1 gene and its mutations were analyzed, and the current status as well as future prospects of the transgenic therapy and gene editing strategies were summarized. Results NF1 is an autosomal dominantly inherited tumor predisposition syndrome caused by mutations in the NF1 tumor suppressor gene, which impair the function of the neurofibromin and lead to the disease. It has complex clinical manifestations and is not yet curable. Gene therapy strategies for NF1 are still in the research and development stage. Existing studies on the transgenic therapy for NF1 have mainly focused on the construction and expression of the GTPase-activating protein-related domain in cells that lack of functional neurofibromin, confirming the feasibility of the transgenic therapy for NF1. Future research may focus on split adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene delivery, oversized AAV gene delivery, and the development of new vectors for targeted delivery of full-length NF1 cDNA. In addition, the gene editing tools of the new generation have great potential to treat monogenic genetic diseases such as NF1, but need to be further validated in terms of efficiency and safety. ConclusionGene therapy, including both the transgenic therapy and gene editing, is expected to become an important new therapeutic approach for NF1 patients.
ObjectiveTo summarize current widely-used therapies for cutaneous neurofibroma (cNF) and related research progress. MethodsBased on extensive investigation of domestic and foreign research, the existing treatment of cNF, including the indications, effectiveness and trials of targeted drugs were reviewed. ResultscNF is a hallmark feature of neurofibromatosis type 1 and has a dramatic negative impact on patient appearance and quality of life. At present, there is no standard management of cNF. Invasive treatment is a commonly-used treatment. Surgical removal gives excellent cosmetic results, but it is difficult for multiple tumors; CO2 laser ablation, laser photocoagulation, electro-drying, and radiofrequency ablation are effective in treating lots of cNF at one time. Although fast and effective, these therapies can lead to depigmentation, hyperpigmentation, or extensive scarring. There is no targeted drug approval for cNF, and a series of studies have been carried out on the Ras-MEK pathway, Ras-mTOR pathway, receptor tyrosine kinase, et al. ConclusionThe treatment of cNF has developed rapidly in recent years and has broad prospects, but the individualization and precision of the treatment still needs further clinical research.
The automatic segmentation of auricular acupoint divisions is the basis for realizing intelligent auricular acupoint therapy. However, due to the large number of ear acupuncture areas and the lack of clear boundary, existing solutions face challenges in automatically segmenting auricular acupoints. Therefore, a fast and accurate automatic segmentation approach of auricular acupuncture divisions is needed. A deep learning-based approach for automatic segmentation of auricular acupoint divisions is proposed, which mainly includes three stages: ear contour detection, anatomical part segmentation and keypoints localization, and image post-processing. In the anatomical part segmentation and keypoints localization stages, K-YOLACT was proposed to improve operating efficiency. Experimental results showed that the proposed approach achieved automatic segmentation of 66 acupuncture points in the frontal image of the ear, and the segmentation effect was better than existing solutions. At the same time, the mean average precision (mAP) of the anatomical part segmentation of the K-YOLACT was 83.2%, mAP of keypoints localization was 98.1%, and the running speed was significantly improved. The implementation of this approach provides a reliable solution for the accurate segmentation of auricular point images, and provides strong technical support for the modern development of traditional Chinese medicine.