• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.229-238
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• 2018

Background Nipple-sparing mastectomies (NSMs) are increasingly performed to obtain the best aesthetic and psychological outcomes in breast cancer treatment. However, merely preserving the nipple-areolar complex (NAC) does not guarantee a good outcome. Darkly pigmented NACs and a tendency for poor scarring outcomes are particular challenges when treating Asian patients. Herein, we review the reconstructive outcomes following NSM at Singapore General Hospital. Methods All breasts reconstructed following NSM over an 11-year period from 2005 to 2015 were reviewed. Information was collected from the patients' records on mastectomy indications, operative details, and complications. Patient satisfaction, breast sensation, and aesthetic outcomes were evaluated in 15 patients. Sensation was quantified using the Semmes-Weinstein monofilament test. Results A total of 142 NSMs were performed in 133 patients for breast cancer (n=122, 85.9%) or risk reduction (n=20, 14.1%). Of the procedures, 114 (80.2%) were autologous reconstructions, while 27 (19.0%) were reconstructions with implants. Complications occurred in 28 breasts (19.7%), with the most common complication being NAC necrosis, which occurred in 17 breasts (12.0%). Four breasts (2.8%) had total NAC necrosis. The overall mean patient satisfaction score was 3.0 (good). The sensation scores were significantly diminished in the skin envelope, areola, and nipple of breasts that had undergone NSM compared to non-operated breasts (P<0.05). Half of the subset of 15 patients in whom aesthetic outcomes were evaluated had reduced nipple projection. Conclusions Immediate reconstruction after NSM was performed with a low complication rate in this series, predominantly through autologous reconstruction. Patients should be informed of potential drawbacks, including NAC necrosis, reduced nipple projection, and diminished sensation.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.866-877
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• 2022

Objective: The optimal imaging approach for evaluating pathological nipple discharge remains unclear. We investigated the value of adding ductography to ultrasound (US) for evaluating pathologic nipple discharge in patients with negative mammography findings. Materials and Methods: From July 2003 to December 2018, 101 women (mean age, 46.3 ± 12.2 years; range, 23-75 years) with pathologic nipple discharge were evaluated using pre-ductography (initial) US, ductography, and post-ductography US. The imaging findings were reviewed retrospectively. The standard reference was surgery (70 patients) or > 2 years of follow-up with US (31 patients). The diagnostic performances of initial US, ductography, and post-ductography US for detecting malignancy were compared using the McNemar's test or a generalized estimating equation. Results: In total, 47 papillomas, 30 other benign lesions, seven high-risk lesions, and 17 malignant lesions were identified as underlying causes of pathologic nipple discharge. Only eight of the 17 malignancies were detected on the initial US, while the remaining nine malignancies were detected by ductography. Among the nine malignancies detected by ductography, eight were detected on post-ductography US and could be localized for US-guided intervention. The sensitivities of ductography (94.1% [16/17]) and post-ductography US (94.1% [16/17]) were significantly higher than those of initial US (47.1% [8/17]; p = 0.027 and 0.013, respectively). The negative predictive value of post-ductography US (96.9% [31/32]) was significantly higher than that of the initial US (83.3% [45/54]; p = 0.006). Specificity was significantly higher for initial US than for ductography and post-ductography US (p = 0.001 for all). Conclusion: The combined use of ductography and US has a high sensitivity for detecting malignancy in patients with pathologic nipple discharge and negative mammography. Ductography findings enable lesion localization on second-look post-ductography US, thus facilitating the selection of optimal treatment plans.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.237-244
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• 2005

Although the technique of vertical reduction mammaplasty has gained major popularity, it is difficult to perform and has the steep learning curve. The authors present a modification of the standard Lejour vertical mammaplasty that simplify the design and make it more reliable and easy to perform. We simplified the design by discarding the Mosque dome. From March 2000 to March 2004, we performed this technique for 40 patients with breast hypertrophy. The apex of the design was marked at the anterior projection of the inframammary fold. After resection of the breast tissue, the medial and lateral pillars were approximated. Then a new nipple-areola position was determined at 4.0-5.0 cm from a new inframammary fold. The range of resection amount of breast tissues was from 150 to 750 gram. Most of the patients were satisfied with the results. There was no permanent sensory loss and nipple areola skin necrosis. But there was 1 case of hematoma on the first day after the operation. This technique presents several advantages. It allows shaping and projection without compromising the future nipple position and makes it easier to remove an excessive skin around the areolae. And it may be comfortable to adjust the position of the nipple at the end of the procedure. We believe that this modification helps to improve the results of the vertical reduction mammaplasty.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.51-64
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• 2014

This study provides a systematic review of the literature on nipple-sparing mastectomy and necrotic complications in order to estimate the prevalence of necrotic complications and to investigate their significant predictors. A literature search was conducted using the MEDLINE and Ovid databases. A pooled analysis was performed for calculation of the prevalence of nipple-areolar complex (NAC) necrosis, mastectomy flap necrosis, and overall necrotic complications and to evaluate the relationships between necrotic complications and potential risk factors. A total of 44 papers were analyzed. The prevalence of overall necrotic complications was 13.7%, including 7.5% for NAC necrosis and 7.8% for mastectomy flap necrosis. Types of incisions showed significant association with the rates of NAC necrosis and mastectomy flap necrosis. Incisions involving the NAC showed a significantly higher rate of NAC necrosis than those not involving it. The prevalence of NAC necrosis was higher in the autologous tissue reconstruction group than in the prosthesis group. Active smoking and diathermy dissection were significant predictors of both NAC necrosis and mastectomy flap necrosis. The findings of this review suggest that there are several predictors of necrotic complications in nipple-sparing mastectomy. Appropriate patient selection, careful operative planning, and surgical technique refinements may reduce the risk of necrotic complications.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.137-146
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• 2020

The manual measurements of 182 unmarried women subjects in their 20s was classified 4-breast types. For the breast type classification, 4 factors were identified, such as overall breast factor, upper breast internal shape factor, breast volume factor, and lower breast external shape factor. The breast shapes were 'breast with well-grown upper part', 'flat breast', 'breast with well-grown lower part', and 'protruded breast'. The breast types can be differentiated in 10 items of actual anthropometric dimension the length between frontal neck point and nipple point, length between lateral neck point and nipple point, length between the breast inner points, nipple to nipple breadth, diameter below the breast, inner depth of breast, outer length of breast, length below the breast, length between breast outer point and upper breast point, and contour line length below the breast.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.153-156
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• 2009

The water cooling system for VFD (Variable Frequency Drive) of a fossil fuel power plant was reported to be shut down due to a water leak at the metal connection of the heat-sink to the hoses. In order to identify the cause of the failure, the system was visually inspected, and corrosion products were analyzed with SEM equipped with EDX. The failure was observed repeatedly at the nipples of certain location, suggesting galvanic corrosion. In a U-shaped heat sink with two nipples, for inlet and outlet, only one nipple was corrosively damaged at the tip, while the other was not. Most of the corrosion products were observed at the sound nipple and in the filter, identified as $Cu(OH)_2$. Some other corrosion products, composed of mostly $Cu_2O$, were found at the corrosively attacked nipple. A fair amount of Cl was also detected on the surface of the damaged nipple. It was concluded that galvanic corrosion was occurred due to a current leakage over the whole system, and the damage was accelerated by the accumulated chlorine ions in the cooling water.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.101-108
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• 2013

An aircraft fuel hose is a kind of high pressure hose, and generally consists of a nipple, a socket, an inner tube, and a reinforcement layer to increase the tensile strength. Especially the nipple supports the other components in manufacturing stages such as the swaging or crimping processes however, the nipple also serves to prevent leakage in cases of hose engagement with a hydraulic system. To ensure the seal of the hose assembly, a beam seal fitting with metal-to-metal contact is usually adopted at the end of a nipple. Therefore, the geometry of the beam is an important parameter to be determined to make sure there is sufficient contact force. This study aims to investigate the effects of beam seal geometry on the contact force by changing the inclined angle and the thickness of the beam. The results reveal that the proper thickness and inclined angle of the beam seal are 0.45 mm and $8.5^{\circ}$, respectively.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.79-83
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• 2019

Robotic surgery facilitates surgical procedures by employing flexible arms with multiple degrees of freedom and providing high-quality 3-dimensional imaging. Robot-assisted nipple-sparing mastectomy with immediate reconstruction is currently performed to avoid breast scars. Four patients with invasive ductal carcinoma underwent robot-assisted nipple-sparing mastectomy and immediate robot-assisted expander insertion. Through a 6-cm incision along the anterior axillary line, sentinel lymph node biopsy and nipple-sparing mastectomy were performed by oncologic surgeons. The pectoralis major muscle was elevated, an acellular dermal matrix (ADM) sling was created with robotic assistance, and an expander was inserted into the subpectoral, sub-ADM pocket. No patients had major complications such as hematoma, seroma, infection, capsular contracture, or nipple-areolar necrosis. The mean operation time for expander insertion was 1 hour and 20 minutes, and it became shorter with more experience. The first patient completed 2-stage prosthetic reconstruction and was highly satisfied with the unnoticeable scar and symmetric reconstruction. We describe several cases of immediate robot-assisted prosthetic breast reconstruction. This procedure is a feasible surgical option for patients who want to conceal surgical scars.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.118-130
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• 2012

Background: Women receiving mastectomy usually prefer a single-stage surgical procedure without the need for additional surgery. Hence, nipple sparing mastectomy was introduced, and the follow-up data on the aesthetic outcome and recurrence of breast cancer were investigated in this study. Materials and Methods: The study subjects comprised 22 patients who received nipple-sparing mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction using the free transverse abdominal rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap between June of 2007 and June of 2012. The patients' aesthetic outcomes were measured with 2 methods for the objective result: Breast size measurements and breast volume calculation both at preoperative phase and postoperative 1 years phase. Also, the patients' satisfaction was evaluated at postoperative 1 year with the self-assessment questionnaire. Follow up check for assessing cancer recurrence was performed for an average period of postoperative 1063 days. Results: First, in objective aesthetic outcome, there were no significant differences between the preoperative and postoperative results on both the breast size and the volume. Second, the patient satisfaction analysis scores were graded as very good in 15 patients (68.2%), and as good in 6 patient (27.3%). Most of the patients were very satisfied with our surgery method. Last, there was no local or distant recurrence in these 22 patients during the follow-up period. Conclusion: In this study, the nipple-sparing mastectomy achieved satisfactory results for the breast scar and shape with a single-stage surgical procedure, and the cancer recurrence rate was not significantly different from that of the conventional mastectomy. Besides, the nipple-sparing mastectomy is more cost-effective than the conventional mastectomy since it reduces the need for additional procedures. However, we think that it is necessary to determine the long-term outcomes about the recurrence rate.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.2185-2191
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• 2015

With the advance of the environment where we can get various multimedia contents, adult image detection has become an important issue these days. In this paper, we suggest a method of robustly detecting navel areas from input images which can be usefully utilized in adult image detection. The suggested algorithm first extracts face regions and extracts candidate nipple areas using a nipple map. Our method then selects only actual nipple regions by filtering candidate areas with geometrical features and an average nipple filter. Subsequently, the method robustly detects navel areas by using the structural relation with the nipple areas and applying edge and saturation images. Experimental results show that the suggested algorithm can effectively detect navel regions.