The transverse musculocutaneous gracilis flap for chest wall reconstruction in male patients with Poland's syndrome.
Poland's syndrome represents a congenital unilateral deformity of the breast, chest wall, and upper limb with extremely variable manifestations. In most cases, the problem is mainly cosmetic, and the reconstruction of the chest wall should use a method designed to be performed easily and to achieve minimal scarring and donor site morbidity. We describe using a transverse musculocutaneous gracilis (TMG) flap for chest wall and anterior maxillary fold reconstruction in three male patients. In two patients, only the pectoralis major muscle was missing. In the third case, the ipsilateral latissimus dorsi muscle was also absent. The indication for surgical treatment was purely cosmetic. In all patients, a free TMG flap was performed to reconstruct the anterior axillary fold and the soft tissue defect. There was no flap loss, and all three patients had a clearly improved appearance of the chest wall. In this article, we demonstrate our experience with the use of a TMG flap for chest wall reconstruction in male patients with Poland's syndrome.
Department of Plastic, Aesthetic, and Reconstructive Surgery, Hospital of the Barmherzigen Brüder Salzburg, Teaching Hospital of the Medical University Salzburg, Kajetanerplatz 1, 5020 Salzburg, Austria. gottfried.wechselberger@ bbsalz.at
Gottfried
G
Wechselberger
Michaela
M
Hladik
Heike
H
Reichl
Florian
F
Ensat
Monika
M
Edelbauer
Daniel
D
Haug
Thomas
T
Schoeller
D000293:Adolescent; D058752:Free Tissue Flaps / Q000637:transplantation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011045:Poland Syndrome / Q000601:surgery*; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D013848:Thigh; D035441:Thoracic Wall / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult