Project description:BACKGROUND:Vascularized intranasal flaps are the primary reconstructive option for endoscopic skull base defects. Flap vascularity may be compromised by injury to the pedicle or prior endonasal surgery. There is currently no validated technique for intraoperative evaluation of intranasal flap viability. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the efficacy of indocyanine green (ICG) near-infrared angiography in predicting the viability of pedicled intranasal flaps during endoscopic skull base surgery through a pilot study. METHODS:ICG near-infrared fluorescence endoscopy was performed during endoscopic endonasal surgery for skull base tumors. Intraoperative and postoperative data were collected regarding enhancement of the flap body and pedicle. Fluorescence was rated qualitatively. Postoperatively, flap perfusion was evaluated via MRI-contrast enhancement in addition to clinical outcomes (cerebrospinal fluid leak and endoscopic flap appearance). RESULTS:Thirty-eight patients underwent ICG fluorescence angiography. Both the body and pedicle enhanced in 20 patients (53%), while the pedicle only enhanced for 12 patients (32%), the body only for 3 (8%), and neither for 3 (8%). When both the pedicle and body enhanced with ICG, the rate of postoperative MRI contrast enhancement was 100% and the rate of flap necrosis was 0%. The sensitivity and specificity of flap pedicle ICG enhancement for predicting postoperative flap MRI enhancement were 97% and 67%, respectively. Two of 3 patients without enhancement developed flap necrosis. CONCLUSION:ICG fluorescence angiography of intraoperative flap perfusion is feasible and correlates well with outcomes of postoperative MRI flap enhancement and flap necrosis. Additional study is needed to further refine the imaging technique and optimally characterize the clinical utility.
Project description:During reconstructive breast surgery, intraoperative assessment of tissue perfusion has been solely based on subjective clinical judgment. However, in the last decade, intraoperative indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) has become an influential tool to visualize blood flow to the tissue of interest. This angiography technique produces real-time blood flow information to provide an objective assessment of tissue perfusion.MethodsA comprehensive literature search of articles pertaining to ICGA in breast reconstruction surgery was performed. The overall findings of the articles are outlined here by surgical procedure: skin-sparing and nipple-sparing mastectomy, implant-based reconstruction, and autologous reconstruction.ResultsOverall, there were 133 articles reviewed, describing the use of ICGA in breast reconstruction surgery. We found that ICGA can provide valuable information that aids in flap design, anastomotic success, and perfusion assessment. We also included example photographs and videos of ICGA use at our institution.ConclusionsICGA can reduce postoperative tissue loss and aid in intraoperative flap design and inset. Despite the benefits of ICGA, its technical use and interpretation have yet to be standardized, limiting its widespread acceptance.
Project description:Mastectomy skin flap necrosis (MSFN) and partial DIEP (deep inferior epigastric artery perforator) flap loss represent two frequently reported complications in immediate autologous breast reconstruction. These complications could be prevented when areas of insufficient tissue perfusion are detected intraoperatively. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is a relatively novel, non-invasive imaging technique, which could be used to objectively assess tissue perfusion through analysis of tissue oxygenation patterns (StO2%), near-infrared (NIR%), tissue hemoglobin (THI%), and tissue water (TWI%) perfusion indices. This prospective clinical pilot study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of HSI for tissue perfusion assessment and to identify a cut-off value for flap necrosis. Ten patients with a mean age of 55.4 years underwent immediate unilateral autologous breast reconstruction. Prior, during and up to 72 h after surgery, a total of 19 hyperspectral images per patient were acquired. MSFN was observed in 3 out of 10 patients. No DIEP flap necrosis was observed. In all MSFN cases, an increased THI% and decreased StO2%, NIR%, and TWI% were observed when compared to the vital group. StO2% was found to be the most sensitive parameter to detect MSFN with a statistically significant lower mean StO2% (51% in the vital group versus 32% in the necrosis group, p < 0.0001) and a cut-off value of 36.29% for flap necrosis. HSI has the potential to accurately assess mastectomy skin flap perfusion and discriminate between vital and necrotic skin flap during the early postoperative period prior to clinical observation. Although the results should be confirmed in future studies, including DIEP flap necrosis specifically, these findings suggest that HSI can aid clinicians in postoperative mastectomy skin flap and DIEP flap monitoring.
Project description:BackgroundIndocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence angiography (FA) was introduced to provide real-time intraoperative evaluation of the vascular perfusion of the gastric conduit during esophagectomy. However, its efficacy has not yet been proven. The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of ICG-FA in the reduction of the rates of anastomotic leakage (AL) in McKeown minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE).MethodsFrom June 2017 to December 2019, patients aged between 18 and 80 years with esophageal carcinoma were enrolled in the study and each patient underwent McKeown MIE. Patients were divided into two groups, those with or without ICG-FA. The patient demographics and perioperative outcomes were comparable between the two groups. The primary outcome was the rate of AL.ResultsA total of 192 patients were included: 86 in the ICG-FA group and 106 in the non-ICG-FA group. Overall, 12 patients (6.3%) had AL; the rate of AL was 10.4% in the non-ICG-FA group, which was significantly higher than the 1.2% in the ICG-FA group.ConclusionsICG-FA has the potential to reduce the rate of AL in McKeown MIE.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Although immediate breast reconstruction has been reported to be oncologically safe, no affirmative study comparing the two reconstruction methods exists. We investigated breast cancer recurrence rates in two breast reconstruction types; implant reconstruction and autologous flap reconstruction. METHODS:A retrospective cohort study was performed on propensity score-matched (for age, stage, estrogen receptor status) patients who underwent IBR after mastectomy at Seoul National University Hospital between 2010 and 2014. The main outcomes determined were locoregional recurrence-free interval (LRRFI) and disease-free interval (DFI). RESULTS:We analyzed 496 patients among 731 patients following propensity score matching (Median age 43, 247 implant reconstruction and 249 flap reconstruction). During median follow-up of 58.2?months, DFI was not different between the two groups at each tumor stage. However, flap reconstruction showed inferior DFI compared to implant reconstruction in patients with high histologic grade (p?=?0.012), and with high Ki-67 (p?=?0.028). Flap reconstruction was related to short DFI in multivariate analysis in aggressive tumor subsets. Short DFI after flap reconstruction in aggressive tumor cell phenotype was most evident in hormone positive/Her-2 negative cancer (p?=?0.008). LRRFI, on the other hand, did not show difference according to reconstruction method regardless of tumor cell aggressiveness. CONCLUSION:Although there is no difference in cancer recurrence according to reconstruction method in general, flap-based reconstruction showed higher systemic recurrence associated with histologically aggressive tumors.
Project description:BackgroundThis study quantitatively assessed perfusion of the deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap according to vertical location and vertical spacing of perforators during DIEP flap breast reconstruction.MethodsIn 67 patients who underwent unilateral DIEP flap breast reconstruction between November 2018 and August 2021, flap perfusion was intraoperatively assessed using indocyanine green angiography. Perforators located at or above the umbilicus were defined as vertical zone 1 perforators and those below the umbilicus as vertical zone 2 perforators. Perfusion assessment was conducted in two stages: at stage 1, perfusion solely by single dominant perforators was assessed. At stage 2, the perfusion increment effected by adding a single additional perforator was assessed. Perfused area proportions were compared between patients with dominant perforators in zone 1 versus zone 2. The effect of adding an additional perforator to another vertical zone ("vertical spacing") was also assessed.ResultsThe perfused proportion was significantly higher among vertical zone 2 perforators compared with zone 1 perforators in the evaluation of single dominant perforators (70% vs. 56%; P<0.001). In the evaluation of incremented perfusion by single additional perforators, the perfused proportion was significantly higher in the vertical-spacing group compared to the no-vertical-spacing group (17% vs. 12%; P=0.004). Fat necrosis developed in 4.5 percent of the patients over at least 6 months of follow-up.ConclusionsDIEP flap perfusion can be affected by the vertical location of perforators, and flap perfusion can be augmented effectively by vertical spacing of perforators.
Project description:In head and neck oncologic surgery a reconstructive phase is often required and pedicled flaps are still a viable option, though they may need a pedicle division performed at a later stage. Several techniques are commonly used for perfusion assessment of the flaps, with indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence video-angiography representing a promising tool. We used ICG video-angiography to evaluate the perfusion of two of the most commonly adopted pedicled flaps in the head and neck field (the supraclavicular and the paramedian forehead flap) before and after second-stage pedicle division, allowing a safer in-setting. Moreover, the new high-resolution device that we have employed added further accuracy to the traditional video-angiography, providing a real-time flap-to-normal skin ICG ratio. Indeed, ICG video-angiography proved to be a useful tool in head and neck reconstructive surgery and it may allow an earlier second-stage pedicle division.
Project description:Indocyanine green (ICG) angiography is widely used in reconstructive surgery to confirm the perfusion of the flap. Here, we report a case in which the use of the "cannulation ICG method" was useful for strategic management of postoperative arterial thrombosis after free jejunal flap transfer. A 64-year-old woman underwent cervical esophagectomy followed by a free jejunal transfer. On postoperative day 3, ischemia of the free jejunum was suspected, and takeback was performed. In the reoperation, re-anastomosis of the artery was planned after the removal of arterial thrombus. However, before re-anastomosis, it was unclear whether there was venous thrombus and whether this jejunum flap was salvageable. To resolve these two questions, we performed the cannulation ICG method. In this method, we injected a mixture of 1.0 mL of ICG and 20 mL of blood into the jejunal artery via 24-gauge cannula. We then evaluated the perfusion of the jejunal flap and monitoring jejunum, and the patency of the venous anastomosis site using a near-infrared fluorescence imaging device (LIGHTVISION; Shimadzu Corporation, Kyoto, Japan). In this case, the whole jejunal flap (including the monitoring jejunum) and venous anastomosis site were highlighted. We determined that there were no venous thrombi and that the entire jejunum was salvageable. After the arterial re-anastomosis, ICG angiography showed good perfusion of the whole jejunum. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the free jejunal flap survived completely. The cannulation ICG method may be effective for determining the surgical method for reoperation due to arterial thrombosis after reconstruction of the free jejunum.
Project description:Major complications of thyroid and parathyroid surgery are recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries and definitive hypoparathyroidism. The use of intra-operative Indocyanine Green Angiography for confirmation of vascular status of the parathyroid gland is reported here.