The rhomboid flap for pilonidal disease

Introduction There have been many surgical techniques described for the treatment of pilonidal sinuses. Recurrent disease causes significant morbidity particularly with time from work. Aim To assess the rhomboid flap's role in promoting one‐stage primary healing in pilonidal disease and to evaluate the morbidity and recurrence. Methods Fifty‐three patients were prospectively recruited of which 27 had previous multiple abscess formation requiring surgical drainage from their pilonidal disease, although none had acute disease at the time of surgery. By using the transposition flap, we were able to obliterate the natal cleft and therefore the rolling action of the buttocks between the cleft in these patients and thereby remove one of the factors involved in pilonidal disease. Hospital stay, healing time, wound infection, wound breakdown and recurrence were noted. Results There were 47 males and 6 females with a median age of 28 years (range 16–64 years). Median follow‐up was 24 months (range 3–36 months). Post‐operative morbidity involved superficial wound infection in 7 (13%) which settled with out‐patient dressings. There were four recurrences (7%), two occurred between the flap and the anal canal, and the other two in the flap margin needing intervention. All the patients healed their wounds and the median healing time was 14 days. Conclusion As this condition affects a predominantly young population causing significant time off from work, we feel that the Rhomboid Flap is useful for difficult cases in that it allows early return to full activity and does not necessitate prolonged postoperative care.     

Clinical considerations from axon-myelin relationship in human inferior alveolar nerve

A histological study analysed the axon-myelin relationships in human inferior alveolar nerve fibres in both transverse and longitudinal sections. Observations on fibres cut in transverse section showed variation in myelin thickness upon axons having approximately the same diameter. Large diameter axons had relatively thinner myelin sheaths than small-diameter axons. A longitudinal reconstruction of a 470 micron length of fibre demonstrated the presence of 13 Schmidt-Lantermann clefts. The surgical and clinical implications of these finding are discussed.     

Transvaginal endosonography: a new method to study the anatomy of the lower urinary tract in urinary stress incontinence

A new method to investigate the anatomy of the lower urinary tract in women is described. Direct ultrasound images of the bladder neck and proximal urethra were obtained using a vaginal endoprobe; the series comprised 100 women with a range of urinary symptoms. The technique was well tolerated by patients and there was no morbidity. Transvaginal endosonography is suitable for the assessment of many aspects of urinary incontinence.     

McArdle's disease: a nonsense mutation in exon 1 of the muscle glycogen phosphorylase gene explains some but not all cases

McArdle's disease is an inherited disease that results froma lack of functional muscle glycogen phosphorylase. We reporthere the identification of a C to T transition in exon 1 ofthe muscle phosphorylase gene found in all patients studied.This base pair mutation results in the substitution of a stopcodon (TGA) for the codon (CGA) for Arg49 in the mature protein,and generates a novel restriction site for Niaill. Of sixteenMcArdle's patients, ten are homozygous for this mutation; theremainder are heterozygous. Additional unidentified mutationsmust lead to the McArdle's phenotype in the latter group ofpatients.     

Alveolar macrophages and T cells from sarcoid, but not normal lung, are permissive to adenovirus infection and allow analysis of NF-kappa b-dependent signaling pathways

Adenovirus (Adv)-mediated gene transfer requires efficient infection of target cells. The objective of this study was to establish whether alveolar macrophages (AM) and T cells (AT) from sarcoid patients were permissive to infection with Adv vectors and if this property could be used to investigate cytokine gene regulation. Sarcoid and normal bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens infected with Adv vectors expressing either beta-galactosidase or a green fluorescent protein were analyzed for transgene expression by fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) and direct immunofluorescence, respectively. Expression of surface antigens previously associated with Adv infection, the coxsackie/adenovirus receptor (CAR), alpha v beta 3, and alpha v beta 5 integrins, was also assessed using FACS analysis. Sarcoid AM and AT were found to efficiently express Adv transgenes, unlike AM from normal volunteers, peripheral blood monocytes, and peripheral blood T cells. Cells permissive to Adv infection expressed the CAR and alpha v beta 5 integrin (also alpha v beta 3 integrin for AM). The data indicate that the upregulation of Adv receptors and the ability to infect sarcoid AM and AT are related to the inflammatory environment within the lung. Having demonstrated efficient Adv-mediated transgene delivery to sarcoid AM and AT, a construct encoding porcine I kappa B alpha was then used to investigate the requirement for nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B in the regulation of cytokine gene expression in pulmonary sarcoidosis. Overexpression of I kappa B alpha in sarcoid BAL specimens indicated that tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6 production by AM and interferon (IFN)-gamma production by AT is NF-kappa B dependent, whereas IL-4 production by AT is NF-kappa B independent. This is the first occasion that the requirement for NF-kappa B in IFN-gamma gene expression within primary human T cells has been demonstrated. The results of this study have implications for the future investigation of molecular pathways in inflammatory lung disease.     

Are obstetric risk factors and bowel symptoms associated with defaecographic and manometric abnormalities in women awaiting hysterectomy?

Abdominal hysterectomy has been shown to affect anorectal function. These studies are either population-based or have been performed retrospectively. It is not clear from the literature whether those subjects awaiting hysterectomy already have an element of pelvic floor failure and which may be related to obstetric risk factors. A complete anorectal assessment was performed in a group of women awaiting hysterectomy who did not volunteer any bowel symptoms. The patients studied were part of an ongoing study of the functional effects of abdominal hysterectomy. All had their anorectal function assessed before their respective surgery by a questionnaire (functional bowel score), Cleveland continence score, endoanal ultrasound (U/S), anal manometry, defaecatory proctogram and colonic transit. A detailed obstetric history, which included risk factors such as parity, type of delivery, duration of labour and elevated birth weight, were also recorded. Patients with previous bowel disease, bowel surgery and anal sphincter repair were excluded. There were 39 subjects with a median age of 43 years (range 31-65), respectively. Thirty-three rectocoeles and 22 intussusceptions were demonstrated. Two had poor puborectalis function, while five had cough incontinence. Two women had abnormal colonic transit. Thirteen had abnormal anal manometry. Endoanal ultrasound was normal in all patients. None of the obstetric risk factors were associated with rectocoele, intussusception or abnormal anal manometry. Low squeeze pressure was associated significantly with more bowel symptoms (P=0.03). However, rectocoele, intussusception, abnormal colonic transit, abnormal resting anal pressure and maximal tolerated volume were not statistically significantly associated with bowel symptoms. The majority of female subjects who were awaiting hysterectomy had physiological and proctographic abnormalities consistent with pelvic floor failure. Obstetric risk factors were not associated with rectocoele, intussusception, abnormal colonic transit and anal manometry in this cohort of patients. Similarly, the majority of proctographic abnormalities were not associated with bowel symptoms. However, a trend was noted associating bowel symptoms with manometric abnormalities.     

Fokus Neurochirurgische Intensivmedizin 2021/2022

Die Anaesthesiologie -