Nowadays, surgical interventions must treat with care the aesthetic impact on the patient, even when a malignant pathology or an patient's advanced age could give the aesthetic issue lower priority. The cranio-facial area is probably the most important anatomical region with regard to the harmony of the human body. Consequently, a step-by-step procedure, applicable regardless of the site and the nature of the lesion, is advisable to minimize the aesthetic impact. We prospectively analyzed 65 patients during a period of 2 years. At 1-year follow-up, all patients were invited to undergo a 3D-multislice CT and to complete a questionnaire with a subjective rating scale about aesthetic impact. The 3D-multislice CT scan didn't show dislocations, depressions or gaps of the bone flap. Nevertheless, five patients complained of some degree of aesthetic injury, or reported a psychological suffering from the aesthetic consequences of surgery. As a control group, we retrospectively reviewed 223 patients. The authors describe their surgical protocol and discuss it in the light of the results of their series.
Aesthetic issues in neurosurgery: a protocol to improve cosmetic outcome in cranial surgery.
BASTIANELLO, STEFANO;
2007-01-01
Abstract
Nowadays, surgical interventions must treat with care the aesthetic impact on the patient, even when a malignant pathology or an patient's advanced age could give the aesthetic issue lower priority. The cranio-facial area is probably the most important anatomical region with regard to the harmony of the human body. Consequently, a step-by-step procedure, applicable regardless of the site and the nature of the lesion, is advisable to minimize the aesthetic impact. We prospectively analyzed 65 patients during a period of 2 years. At 1-year follow-up, all patients were invited to undergo a 3D-multislice CT and to complete a questionnaire with a subjective rating scale about aesthetic impact. The 3D-multislice CT scan didn't show dislocations, depressions or gaps of the bone flap. Nevertheless, five patients complained of some degree of aesthetic injury, or reported a psychological suffering from the aesthetic consequences of surgery. As a control group, we retrospectively reviewed 223 patients. The authors describe their surgical protocol and discuss it in the light of the results of their series.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.