Dr. Dean Toriumi, Highly Acclaimed Facial Reconstructive Surgeon, Develops Techniques for Successful Facial Reconstruction After Melanoma and Other Skin Cancers

    MARINA DEL REY, CA, February 27, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- "Baby boomers are now in their 50's and 60's. There is a large increase in numbers of patients with skin cancers!" notes Dr. Dean Toriumi. The number of patients with skin cancer in the last two decades has doubled, reports the American Cancer Society.

"Annually, more than a million cases of non-melanoma skin cancers reported have been related to sun exposure. It's clear that skin cancer is more prevalent now than any other time in history," claims Dr. Toriumi.

Dr. Dean Toriumi says, "The problems reported associated with sun exposure were not as well known when baby boomers were young. Since tanning was extremely popular, many chose not to use sunscreen at all. The sun worshipers of yesterday are coming down with facial skin cancers today at an alarming rate," notes Dr. Toriumi.

According to Dr. Dean Toriumi, the most common sites for facial skin cancers are the cheeks, ears and nose. Basal cell cancer is one of the most common. Thankfully, these cancers only spread locally and do not spread to other locations as the more aggressive cancers can. But often, the patient that presents with these facial skin cancers are often left with significant defects that require a reconstructive surgery.

Mohs Surgery is a common treatment for facial skin cancer. Mohs is described as a micrographic technique designed to remove cancerous skin tumors and at the same time, preserving as much healthy skin as possible. "Preserving healthy skin always requires a careful analysis of the tumor margins," says Dr. Dean Toriumi.

Dr. Toriumi goes on to explain, "I work closely with Mohs surgeons who remove the skin cancer with microscopic guidance to minimize the amount of normal tissue removed while reducing the chance of cancer recurrence". Dr. Dean Toriumi adds, "patients are typically left with one or more defects that require reconstruction. This may involve primary closure, flap reconstruction or use of a skin graft."

"Which reconstruction we use always depends on the size and location of the defect," Dr. Toriumi goes on to say, "even where the wound is small enough to heal by itself, patients are usually left with a scar and the healing can take up to several weeks. This is called 'healing by secondary intention' and is not appropriate or advisable," says Dr. Toriumi.

Dr. Toriumi explains that in some patients, skin grafting may be enough to reconstruct those defects. Areas that can be treated are possibly the nose and some eyelid defects. The skin graft is typically harvested from in front of the ear. However, the patients may be left with some differences in skin texture and coloration.

The above patients were all successfully treated by Dr. Dean Toriumi. Patient #1 above had a right side nasal defect and was closed with a skin graft. Although a good outcome, there is slight mild skin contour irregularities.

"Unfortunately, most patients have defects deep enough that they will require reconstruction with skin flaps," notes Dr. Toriumi. "This involves geometric reorientation of adjacent or distant skin to the site to close it." Dr. Dean Toriumi explains that these patients tend to heal quickly with a much faster recovery.

Patient #2 has skin cancer on her nose that was reconstructed using a bilobed transposition flap, involving moving adjacent skin into the defect.

"Some patients have very large defects that cannot be closed with local skin and require transferring skin from an adjacent site," says Dr. Dean Toriumi. "These wounds require multiple-stage reconstruction using forehead skin to correct the nasal defect."

"In these cases, a flap of skin from the forehead is transposed to the nasal defect and left in place for three weeks. An intermediate stage debulking of the flap is then performed. During this time," explains Dr. Toriumi, "there is a pedicle of skin that runs from the medial brow to the defect. This intermediate period can be stressful to the patient, as he or she is left physically deformed.. Three weeks later, the skin from the forehead to the nose is divided and the closure of the defect is completed. Occasionally, a patient may require an additional scar revision to maximize the outcome."

Patient #3, above, had a very large nasal tip defect after resection of basal cell cancer on the tip of his nose. After reconstruction with a forehead flap, the patient has reasonable result with minor tissue color mismatch, notes Dr. Dean Toriumi.

Dr. Dean Toriumi is a facial plastic surgeon in Chicago who specializes in rhinoplasty, secondary rhinoplasty and facial reconstruction. Dr. Toriumi was named one of the five best rhinoplasty surgeons in the world by W Magazine and one of Chicago Magazine's Top Doctors profiled Dr. Toriumi and featured him on the cover. In the magazine, he was voted by his peers as one of Chicago's Best Physicians.

For more information please see http://www.deantoriumi.com/

Dean M. Toriumi, MD
Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon
900 N. Michigan Ave.
60 East Delaware Street, Suite 1460
Chicago, IL 60611

312-255-8812

Email: [email protected]

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