Objective To provide an additional reference and value for the surgeon to reconstruct the natural and aesthetic breast. Methods Measurements were made in a group of 45 women volunteers aged from 22 to 45 years, who were satisfied with their breasts without any history of breast surgery. After the lateral arch of the breast as the reference value for breast size being chosen, breast-areola to nipple ratio was determined according to parameters measured as follows: weight, height, diameter of the breast, areola, and nipple, distances between the nipple and borders of the breast-superior (to the suprasternal notch), medial arch (to the medial end of the inframammary crease), lateral arch (to the lateral end of the inframammary crease), inferior arch (to the lowest point of the inframammary crease). Correlation factors such as age, weight, height and body mass index (BMI) which may influence the proportion were also considered and analyzed. Results The sample showed that the breast- areola and areola-nipple proportions were about 3.7:1.0 and 3.4:1.0 respectively in the Chinese women population. Weight/BMI had a significant positive correlation with the breast size and areola-nipple proportion, nor did age and height in the sample. Conclusions Breast and areola-nipple complex keeps their optimal proportions, which might be influenced by the factor of overweight. Determination of breast-areola-nipple proportion contributes its aesthetic value to the mammaplasty and reconstruction for the oriental female. The proportion could be used to predict and design the desired breast size during the operation.

AIM: To determine the distribution and frequency of functionally important allelic variants in the cytochromes P450 (CYP) 2C19, arylamine N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2), and thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT) genes in the Han Chinese population and compare them with those of other ethnic populations.METHODS: Genotyping was carried out in a total of 210 unrelated Han Chinese volunteers derived from He-nan area. CYP2C19 variants ( * 2 and * 3), NAT2 variants ( * 6 and * 7), and TPMT variants ( * 3A, * 3B, and * 3C) were detected using polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP)assays. Detection of NA T2 * 5 and TPMT * 2 were performed using allele-specific polymerase chain reaction assays. RESULTS: Allele frequencies of CYP2C19 * 2 and * 3 occurred with 34.76 % and 6.4 %, respectively.Thirty-one persons ( 14.8 % ) carried two of these CYP2C19 alleles responsible for poor metabolizing activity.The frequencies of specif ic NAT2 alleles were 59.1%, 4.1%, 26.4 %, and 9.5 % for * 4 (wild-type), * 5(341C), * 6 (590A), and * 7 (857A), respectively. Genotyping of three different single nucleotide polymorphisms in the NA T2 gene revealed that the frequency of slow acetylators was 19.5 %. TPMT * 3C had an allelic frequency of 1.2 %. TPMT* 2, TPMT * 3A, or TPMT* 3B was not detected in the analysed samples. CONCLUSION: The overview of allele distribution for drug-metabolizing enzymes CYP2C19, NAT2, and TPMT among a Han Chinese population shows obvious difference to Caucasians. The data will be useful for clinical pharmacokinetic investigation and drug dosage administration to Han Chinese population.

OBJECTIVETo introduce an operation for fingertip reconstruction.

METHODSThe vascularity of the reverse dorsal island flap is augmented by performing an arteriovenous anastomosis between the dorsal vein in the flap and a digital artery at the fingertip. The flap was used in ten patients for reconstruction of their fingertip defects.

RESULTSAll the ten flaps survived and the appearance was good.

CONCLUSIONThe method is easy except for the necessity of performing standard microvascular surgery. The flap is a good option for repairing fingertip defects.

Adult ; Female ; Fingers ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Microsurgery ; methods ; Surgical Flaps