TY - JOUR
T1 - A case report on a burned ear
T2 - Elastic memory of cartilage following temporary burial in a skin pocket
AU - Visscher, D. O.
AU - van Zuijlen, P. P.M.
PY - 2017/5/1
Y1 - 2017/5/1
N2 - Preserving exposed ear cartilage following a facial burn remains a major challenge. Normally, burned ear cartilage cannot be preserved in case of a full thickness burn of the overlying skin, and the cartilage has to be surgically removed. Sometimes, reconstructions can be performed at a later stage. We report a case where burned ear cartilage was directly surgically buried in a retroauricular skin pocket showing remarkable elastic memory: the buried ear cartilage, in this case the antihelix, regenerated over time and regained its original position protruding from the facial area. This case illustrates that ear cartilage is highly resilient, even when it has sustained significant thermal damage, and can be buried in a retroauricular skin pocket to avoid radical excision of the framework.
AB - Preserving exposed ear cartilage following a facial burn remains a major challenge. Normally, burned ear cartilage cannot be preserved in case of a full thickness burn of the overlying skin, and the cartilage has to be surgically removed. Sometimes, reconstructions can be performed at a later stage. We report a case where burned ear cartilage was directly surgically buried in a retroauricular skin pocket showing remarkable elastic memory: the buried ear cartilage, in this case the antihelix, regenerated over time and regained its original position protruding from the facial area. This case illustrates that ear cartilage is highly resilient, even when it has sustained significant thermal damage, and can be buried in a retroauricular skin pocket to avoid radical excision of the framework.
KW - Burns
KW - Cartilage
KW - Ear
KW - Reconstruction
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85006014410&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2016.08.020
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.burns.2016.08.020
M3 - Article
C2 - 28277272
SN - 0305-4179
VL - 43
SP - e33-e35
JO - Burns
JF - Burns
IS - 3
ER -