Soft tissue coverage after the resection of a large malignant peripheral neural sheath tumor (MPNST) is a challenge. We report the successful reconstruction of an extensive shoulder defect after MPNST resection in a patient with a type 1 neurofibromatosis with a novel combination of flaps. A 70-year-old man with type 1 neurofibromatosis presented with a recurrent MPNST on his right shoulder. He...

Congenital absence of shoulder girdle muscles is described in three generations of a family. The proband, a 3 year old boy, had absence of the sternocostal head of the right pectoralis major. His father had absence of the left serratus anterior and part of the left latissimus dorsi and his paternal grandfather had absence of the lower two-thirds of the left pectoralis major, with absence of the...

We present reconstruction of a complicated scalp-dura defect using acellular human dermis and latissimus dorsi myocutaneous free flap. A 62-year-old female had previously undergone decompressive craniectomy for intracranial hemorrhage. The cranial bone flap was cryopreserved and restored to the original location subsequently, but necessitated removal for a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcal i...

Seroma formation after axillary dissection is a common problem in breast cancer surgery. We report the case of a 68-year-old female with breast cancer who underwent a wide local excision and axillary clearance due to stage III breast cancer. Patient received post-operative whole breast irradiation therapy and developed a painful, infected seroma one month after surgery. This was treated with an...

Electromyography was used to determine the presence of electrical activity in the nonexercised latissimus dorsi, infraspinatus, and pectoralis major muscles while the contralateral limb underwent the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation pattern of flexion, abduction, external rotation with elbow straight and extension, adduction, internal rotation with elbow straight. Activity was present ...

The anterior latissimus dorsi (ALD) muscle of chickens is a slow tonic muscle, while the posterior latissimus dorsi (PLD) is a fast twitch muscle. These muscles on opposite sides of a 3-week-old chick were removed, minced and replaced in the site of the other muscle and left to regenerate. The regenerating muscles were examined at various periods from 4 days onwards and their contractile proper...

Extensive defects of the scalp and forehead associated with calvarial bone resections demand complex reconstructions. Free flaps offer vascularized tissue of excellent quality and quantity. We report six patients with extensive scalp and forehead defects associated with calvarial bone resections reconstructed with free flaps. Five patients also required a cranioplasty. The flaps used were two a...

Latissimus dorsi tendon transfer is an effective option for young and active patients with massive irreparable posterosuperior rotator cuff tears and intact subscapularis tendon. This approach has been shown to relieve pain and improve shoulder function in both the short and long term. We describe a surgical technique using an acromial osteotomy to better expose the greater tuberosity for the t...