Surgical management in a severe OSA patient diagnosed with Stickler syndrome

Stickler syndrome is a genetic disorder of connective tissue. One of the major symptoms associated with this disorder is an oro-facial malformation, which may cause a submucous cleft or a complete cleft of the hard palate. A 32-year-old man diagnosed with Stickler syndrome and a submucosal cleft palate (SMCP) visited our hospital with a chief complaint of excessive daytime sleepiness. The patient was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and administration of a polysomnography test revealed an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of 30.9 events/hour (h). Auto-titrating continuous positive airway pressure was initiated to control the OSA symptoms and subsequently the patient showed some improvement. However, due to continuous velopharyngeal insufficiency symptoms, intravelar veloplasty was performed. Three months after surgery, the AHI had decreased to 12.4 events/h. Recent studies have described a greater risk for OSA in individuals with cleft palate, than in the general population. The present case demonstrates surgical success in a patient with OSA and SMCP, suggesting that palatal surgery may be considered an optional surgical treatment for OSA patients with SMCP.     

Integration of Genomic and Transcriptional Features in Pancreatic Cancer Reveals Increased Cell Cycle Progression in Metastases

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Distribution of internal thoracic artery perforators: A clincal anatomy study

There are various modifications of the transverse rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap and deep inferior epigastric perforator flap to reduce the morbidity of the donor site or to augment the vascularity of the flap. For microanastomosis of multiple pedicles, multiple recipient vessels or an intervening vein graft should be provided. In addition, alternative perforator‐based flaps used in breast reconstruction have small caliber pedicles. Therefore, small recipient vessels such as internal thoracic artery perforators are more suitable for appropriate microanastomosis. Therefore, it is important to acquaint the distribution and anatomical characteristics of internal thoracic artery perforators. We researched the perforators running in the intercostal spaces under the pectoralis major muscle to provide an overview of the anatomical distribution and characteristics of the perforators in patients who underwent immediate subpectoral implant‐based breast reconstructions. In our study, the major perforators (diameter > 1.5 mm) were easily found 2–7 cm medially between the third and fourth intercostal space and were sparse in the lateral area from the midline of the breast (usually 8–9 cm lateral to the midsternal line) and above the third rib. In each side of the breast, the average number of perforators greater than 1.5 mm was 1.6, and the average number of perforators between 1 mm and 1.5 mm in diameter was 3.2. Our results provide information about perforators in the anterior chest wall related to the breast area. Clin. Anat. 32:471–475, 2019. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Age at menopause in India: A systematic review

Background and aimsMenopause is a physiological process in nature and hence, variations in the age of menopause are not expected. Hence, the study was conducted with an objective to calculate the reliable estimates of age at menopause for India, and understand the differentials in women’s age at menopause throughout the country.MethodsA total of 202 studies of age at menopause, covering the period 2009–2020, were accessed from PubMed database and Google. Of these only ten studies met the selection criteria for this paper, which is that the data for these studies must be collected from house-to-house surveys.ResultsThe average age at menopause in India, with minimal publication bias, is 46.6 years (95% CI: 44.83, 48.44). In one study slightly above 1.96 Standard Deviation, was observed, as ascertained by Funnel Plot and Egger’s test. The mean age ranged from a minimum of 44.69 years (95% CI: 35.01, 54.37) to a maximum of 48.95 (95% CI: 42.29, 55.61) years. Furthermore, the age at menopause did not exhibit any significant variation by age at menarche, although the association was positive.ConclusionsThe age at menopause showed positive association with age at menarche. In India, during the period 2009–2020, it was 46.6 years, which significantly lower than the age in some developed countries. The differences may be methodological since no information was found regarding the distribution of age at menopause in the studies that were considered for meta-analysis.