Versatility of the distally based superficial sural flap for reconstruction of lower leg and foot in children

Twenty children are presented after undergoing a distally based superficial sural flap for coverage of defects at the lower leg and foot. The age of the patients was between 1 and 12 years. Fifteen patients had trauma to the lower leg, with eight of them having associated injuries. Three had postburn contracture and two had pressure sore. In 14 cases, the flap was used as a fasciocutaneous flap, whereas in six cases it was used as a fascial flap covered with a skin graft. The flaps were used to cover the defects from the dorsum of the foot distally up to the mid third of tibia proximally. The mean follow-up was for a period of 2 years. Even though free tissue transfer is reliable and safe for the reconstruction of major leg injuries in children, the distally based superficial sural flap has the advantage of being easy to perform, with short operating time, minimal donor side morbidity, and preservation of major arteries of the leg.     

Osteoid osteoma of the talus and simple bone cyst of the homolateral calcaneus. A rare association

Osteoid osteoma and simple bone cyst are readily observed in long bones, but are much less common in the short bones of the foot. The association of these two tumors in the same foot is exceptional. We report the case of a 15-year-old girl who presented an osteoid osteoma of the talus and a simple bone cyst of the calcaneus of the left foot. The patient complained of pain in the rear foot for four months which worsened at night and was of the inflammatory type. The physical examination was normal. Standard x-rays revealed a simple bone cyst in the calcaneus which could not explain the nighttime inflammatory pain. Scintigraphy and computed tomography of the left foot revealed an osteoid oseoma of the talus. Biopsy total resection of the osteoid osteoma with curettage and filling with cancellous bone of the simple bone cyst were performed. The patient has been free of recurrence at three years follow-up.     

Opposite-direction bilateral fracture dislocation of the shoulders after an electric shock

Injuries after an electric shock, such as dermal burns, motor and sensory nerve deficits, fractures and dislocations, are reported in the literature. Posterior dislocation of the shoulder after electric-shock is the common musculoskeletal injury. Bilateral dislocation, either anterior or posterior, is rarely seen and reported. We report a case of bilateral shoulder fracture dislocation in opposite directions following an electric-shock and discuss the mechanism, the diagnosis and the treatment.     

Differential antibody recognition of FC27-like Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein MSP2 antigens which lack 12 amino acid repeats

Three alleles of the FC27-type allelic family of the MSP2 gene of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum have been sequenced from parasites from the field (The Gambia and Tanzania). These alleles lack the 12 amino acid repeat units which are usual in this family of MSP2 alleles. We have investigated the recognition by sera from an endemic area (The Gambia) of three recombinant MSP2 proteins that have 5, 1 and no copies of this repeat region. Antibody recognition of these recombinant proteins varied according to the number of repeats present. High titre antibody levels were seen with most sera using the recombinant protein with 5 × 12-mer repeats, whereas only low responses were measured using proteins containing 1 or no 12-mer repeats. Several sera entirely failed to recognise the protein which lacked 12-mer repeats. The data suggest that variation in the number of tandem repeat sequences could allow the parasite to avoid high avidity antibody binding and this may allow escape from immune recognition.     

Nonsense β-thalassemia mutation at codon 37 (TGG>TGA), detected for the first time in three Turkish cases

Thalassemias are genetically heterogeneous group of disorders with reduced or absent production of globin. β-Thalassemia major can be caused by homozygosity or compound heterozygosity for β-globin gene mutation. Here we report, for the first time in Turkey, three cases who carry the nonsense β-thalassemia (β-thal) mutation at codon 37 (TGG>TGA; Trp→Stop) causing premature stop codon.     

Aneurysma spurium mit sekundärer AV-Fistel nach Nierenteilresektion

The increasing number of partial nephrectomies is accompanied by a higher incidence of rare iatrogenic vascular malformation. In the present case, an aneurysm with secondary arteriovenous (AV) fistula that developed after partial nephrectomy with a complicated course is described. The fistula was diagnosed during the sonographic follow-up in an asymptomatic patient. Due to the high flow rate of the shunt, the aneurysm was treated using open surgery.