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Background: Although many techniques of reduction mammaplasty are currently in use, a prospective study quantitating the sensation of the nipple-areolar complex (NAC) after the performance of specific techniques has not been performed. Objective: The purpose of this study was to quantitate the postoperative sensation of the NAC after reduction mammaplasty and to compare the results on the basis of the orientation of the vascularized pedicle. Methods: We tested 42 patients divided into 4 groups: medial pedicle (9 patients), inferior pedicle (8 patients), free nipple transfer (8 patients), and a control group (17 patients). The specific mammaplasty technique chosen was based on the preoperative assessment and the estimated volume of resection. A Wise pattern approach was used in all cases. NAC sensation was quantified with the use of the Pressure Specified Sensory Device (Sensory Management Services LLC, Baltimore, MD). Results: We detected no significant difference in the volume of reduction between the free nipple group and the medial pedicle group (P =.14). NAC sensation in the free nipple transfer group was significantly lower than either of the pedicle techniques and control group in all areas of testing (P < 0.001), whereas the medial and inferior pedicle groups had no significant sensory differences in NAC sensation (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The medial pedicle technique is safe and reliable and can be used for large-volume reduction mammaplasty to optimize sensation of the NAC.

Reduction mammaplasty with nipple-areolar transposition on a medial pedicle was designed as an alternative to amputation and free nipple graft for women with severe mammary hypertrophy. The purpose of this study was to review the viability and sensory outcome of the nipple-areolar complex (NAC) in 72 women (133 breasts) after medial pedicle and inferior pedicle reduction mammaplasty between 1996 and 2000. The medial pedicle was used for 41 women (79 breasts) with moderate to severe mammary hypertrophy. An inferior pedicle was used for 31 women (54 breasts) with mild to moderate mammary hypertrophy. Mean follow-up for all patients was 25 months. Total sensation of the NAC was obtained in 68 of 79 breasts (86%) after medial pedicle reduction mammaplasty and in 50 of 54 breasts (92%) after inferior pedicle reduction mammaplasty. Total viability of the NAC occurred in 74 of 79 breasts (94%) after medial pedicle reduction mammaplasty and in 53 of 54 breasts (98%) after inferior pedicle reduction mammaplasty. Quantitative sensory testing of the NAC using the pressure-specified sensory device demonstrated that static and moving sensory thresholds of the NAC are lowest in the inferior pedicle group followed by the control group and the medial pedicle group. It can be concluded from this study that the medial and inferior pedicle techniques are capable of supporting vascularity and innervation to the NAC. The medial pedicle technique for severe mammary hypertrophy is a good alternative to free nipple grafting. The amount of breast tissue removed does not correlate with sensory outcome for both inferior and medial pedicle techniques. The pressure-specified sensory device is an excellent means of assessing sensory outcome.

The nascent field of craniofacial distraction osteogenesis has not yet been subjected to a rigorous evaluation of techniques and outcomes. Consequently, many of the standard approaches to distraction have been borrowed from the experience with long bones in orthopedic surgery. The ideal "latency period" of neutral fixation, rate and rhythm of distraction, and consolidation period have not yet been determined for the human facial skeleton. In addition, because the individual craniofacial surgeon's experience with distraction has generally been small, outcomes and meaningful complication rates have not yet been published. In this study, a four-page questionnaire was sent to 2476 craniofacial and oral/maxillofacial surgeons throughout the world, asking about their experiences with distraction osteogenesis. Information about the types of cases, indications for surgery, surgical techniques, postoperative management, outcomes, and complications were tabulated. Of 274 respondents (response rate, 11.4 percent), 148 indicated that they used distraction in their surgical practice. One hundred forty-five completed surveys were entered into a database that provided information about 3278 craniofacial distraction cases. Statistical analyses were performed comparing the rates of premature consolidation, fibrous nonunion, and nerve injury, on the basis of the use of a latency period and different rates and rhythms of distraction. In addition, the rates of all complications were determined and compared on the basis of the number of distraction cases performed per surgeon. The results of the study clearly show a wide variation in the surgical practice of craniofacial distraction osteogenesis. Although the cumulative complication rate was found to be 35.6 percent, there is a pronounced learning curve, with far fewer complications occurring among more experienced surgeons (p < 0.001). The presence of inferior alveolar nerve injury as a result of mandibular distraction was much lower for respondents whose distraction regimens consisted of no more than 1 mm of distraction per day (19.5 percent versus 2.4 percent; p < 0.001). No evidence was found to support the use of a latency period or to divide the daily distraction regimen into more than one session per day. Conclusions could not be drawn from this study regarding the length of the consolidation period. Overall, the surgeon-reported outcomes are comparable with those published for other craniofacial procedures, despite the higher incidence of complications. Although conclusions made on the basis of a subjective questionnaire need to be interpreted cautiously, this study has strength in the large numbers of cases reviewed. Because of the anonymity of responses, it has been assumed that surgeons who responded to the survey reported accurate numbers of complications and successful outcomes. Finally, additional clinical and animal studies that will be of benefit in advancing the field of craniofacial distraction osteogenesis are outlined.

Although many techniques of reduction mammaplasty are currently in use, a prospective study quantitating the sensation of the nipple-areolar complex (NAC) after the performance of specific techniques has not been performed.The purpose of this study was to quantitate the postoperative sensation of the NAC after reduction mammaplasty and to compare the results on the basis of the orientation of the vascularized pedicle.We tested 42 patients divided into 4 groups: medial pedicle (9 patients), inferior pedicle (8 patients), free nipple transfer (8 patients), and a control group (17 patients). The specific mammaplasty technique chosen was based on the preoperative assessment and the estimated volume of resection. A Wise pattern approach was used in all cases. NAC sensation was quantified with the use of the Pressure Specified Sensory Device (Sensory Management Services LLC, Baltimore, MD).We detected no significant difference in the volume of reduction between the free nipple group and the medial pedicle group (P =.14). NAC sensation in the free nipple transfer group was significantly lower than either of the pedicle techniques and control group in all areas of testing (P0.001), whereas the medial and inferior pedicle groups had no significant sensory differences in NAC sensation (P0.001).The medial pedicle technique is safe and reliable and can be used for large-volume reduction mammaplasty to optimize sensation of the NAC.

Successful performance of distraction osteogenesis requires rigorous patient compliance with a daily activation regimen of a percutaneous screw. Previous clinical studies have found that failure of patient compliance with this regimen is the most common complication leading to technical failure of the distraction process. The authors have developed an internalized spring-mediated device for mandibular distraction osteogenesis that can potentially abrogate the risks associated with patient compliance by allowing for automated distraction across an osteotomy. Twenty adult New Zealand White rabbits underwent unilateral mandibular osteotomy. A segment of nickel-titanium shape memory alloy reinforced at both ends with a pinball was fashioned into an inferiorly based arc and secured to the mandible with stainless steel wire. On postoperative day 12, spring activation commenced by cutting a wire binding the two pinballs to one another. Animals were observed for 6 weeks before they were killed. Radiographic studies and decalcified histologic analysis were performed on extracted mandibles. Temperature- and displacement-dependent properties of the shape memory alloy were also examined. Five animals were excluded from the study due to infection, nonunion, or device failure. A mean distraction of 1.2 mm in the distracted hemimandible relative to the nonoperated hemimandible was found (P

The preservation of sensitivity within the nipple-areola complex is of paramount importance to patients presenting for reconstructive and aesthetic breast procedures. Previous attempts to measure sensation in the breast before and after surgery have relied primarily on the Semmes-Weinstein monofilament test, which is an imprecise study that measures the logarithm of force necessary to bend a series of six to 20 filaments. Within the last 10 years, various authors have published normative pressure threshold data for the breast that have varied by a magnitude of greater than 10-fold. Recently, precise anatomic studies have been performed that have elucidated the innervation of the nipple-areola complex medially and laterally from cutaneous branches of the intercostal nerves. Despite this knowledge, no quantitative sensibility studies have yet been performed that compare postoperative sensation when medially versus laterally innervated pedicles have been used in reduction mammaplasty. The present study is the first to use computer-assisted neurosensory testing to generate normal breast sensation data and to compare sensory outcomes between the inferior and the medial pedicle techniques of reduction mammaplasty.A total of 34 patients were divided into four groups and underwent breast sensory testing (67 breasts total) using the Pressure-Specified Sensory Device, a computer-assisted force transducer that measures static and moving one and two-point discrimination. Sensation in the nipple and in the four quadrants of the areola was measured. Groups I and II were composed of 17 unoperated controls with breast sizes ranging from 34A to 36C (group I; 18 breasts) and 36DD to 46EE (group II; 16 breasts) who presented to a general plastic surgery clinic. Groups III and IV were composed of 17 patients who underwent either medial or inferior pedicle reduction mammaplasty between July of 1997 and March of 1999. Pressure thresholds in the most sensitive breasts were as low as 0.3 g/mm2, a marked contrast to data from previous studies using Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments documenting the lowest recordable pressure threshold as greater than 2 g/mm2. Several findings from previous studies using Semmes-Weinstein monofilament testing were confirmed in unoperated controls, including an inverse relationship between sensitivity and breast size, superior nipple sensitivity when compared with the areola, and significant interpatient variability with respect to static and moving two-point discrimination among women matched according to age and breast size. When comparing medial with inferior pedicle reduction mammaplasty patients, it was found that despite significantly greater reductions using the medial pedicle technique (mean of 1.7 kg versus 1.1 kg of breast tissue removed), there were no significant differences in postoperative sensory outcomes in the sample size of 17 patients. Furthermore, within each group of patients undergoing either the medial or inferior pedicle technique, the amount of breast tissue removed did not correlate with postoperative sensory outcomes.Computer-assisted quantitative neurosensory testing is a highly accurate technique for measuring sensibility. The use of this technology demonstrates a 10-fold difference in measurable sensory thresholds in normal patients from preexisting data using Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments. Advances in measurement methods have allowed the authors to compare postoperative sensory outcomes reliably using two popular techniques of reduction mammaplasty.

Distraction osteogenesis has been described as in vivo tissue engineering. The ability to stimulate this process for the repair of bony defects or lengthening of congenitally shortened facial structures is likely to significantly impact the field of craniofacial surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine whether mechanical stimulation of the distracted rabbit mandible would accelerate the maturation of the bony callus when applied during the early consolidation period. Twenty adult New Zealand White rabbits underwent unilateral mandibular osteotomy. A uni-directional internal distractor device (Synthes, Paoli, Pa.) was positioned along a plane perpendicular to the line of osteotomy. After a 7-day latency period, distraction was commenced at a rate of 1.0 mm/day for 12 days in all animals. In a control group of 10 rabbits, a consolidation period of 8 weeks was observed before they were killed. In the experimental group of 10 rabbits, daily alternate compression and distraction of 1 mm (sequential compression and distraction) was performed for 3 weeks followed by a 5-week period of rigid fixation. Each animal received a dose of a fluorescent label at three different time points during the study: at the end of the distraction period, 3 weeks after the completion of the distraction phase, and 3 days before it was killed. All animals were killed 8 weeks after the completion of the distraction phase. Undecalcified histologic analysis and 3-point bending tests to failure were performed on the extracted mandibles. The results of the experimental and control groups were compared. Four animals in the control group and three animals in the experimental group were excluded from the study because of screw loosening resulting in distractor dislodgment or because of infection. On histologic analysis, cortical thickness at the center of the callus was found to be significantly greater in the experimental group compared with the control group when normalized to the contralateral hemimandible (83 percent versus 49 percent, respectively; p < 0.007). The ratio of cortical to cancellous bone in the distracted callus was uniformly found to be greater in the experimental specimens. The mineral apposition rate was calculated by using fluorescence microscopy and found to be significantly greater in the experimental group both during the period of sequential compression and distraction (3.2 microm/day versus 2.1 microm/day, p = 0.02) and after the period of sequential compression and distraction (1.4 microm/day versus 1.1 microm/day, p = 0.006). Mechanical testing revealed no significant differences in bending strength or stiffness between experimental or control groups (p = 0.54 and 0.47, respectively). This study has demonstrated that daily alternating compression and distraction of 1 mm amplitude during the early consolidation period has a stimulatory impact on callus formation with respect to osteoblastic activity, remodeling, and maturation of bone. Optimal timing and amplitude of sequential movement, long-term biomechanical differences, and molecular pathways have yet to be elucidated.