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Dermal Fat Grafting to Reconstruct the Parotidectomy Defect Normalizes Facial Attention
Author(s) -
Anderies Barrett J.,
Dey Jacob K.,
Gruszczynski Nelson R.,
Price Daniel L.,
Moore Eric J.,
Janus Jeffrey R.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the laryngoscope
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1531-4995
pISSN - 0023-852X
DOI - 10.1002/lary.28890
Subject(s) - parotidectomy , medicine , distraction , eye tracking , gaze , surgery , facial nerve , audiology , psychology , artificial intelligence , computer science , neuroscience , psychoanalysis
Objectives/Hypothesis Use validated eye‐tracking technology to objectively measure 1) the attentional distraction of facial contour defects after superficial and total parotidectomy and 2) changes in attentional distraction with abdominal dermal fat graft reconstruction. Methods Standardized frontal and oblique facial images of 16 patients who had undergone superficial or total parotidectomy with or without fat graft reconstruction; four normal controls were obtained. One hundred casual observers were recruited to view these images, and gaze data were collected using a Tobii Pro eye‐tracking system. Gaze durations for predefined facial areas of interest were analyzed using mixed‐effects linear regression to test study hypotheses. Results For frontal images, total parotidectomy increased gaze to the operated parotid area compared to the contralateral nonoperated parotid area (92 milliseconds, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 48‐138 milliseconds, P < .001). Fat grafting normalized the attentional distraction, with no difference in gaze time on the operated parotid region compared to normal control faces ( P = .414). For oblique images, total parotidectomy increased gaze to the operated parotid area compared to the contralateral nonoperated parotid area (658 milliseconds, 95% CI: 463‐854 milliseconds, P < .001). Fat grafting normalized this attentional distraction, with no difference in gaze time on the operated parotid region compared to normal control faces ( P = .504). In both views, superficial parotidectomy demonstrated no significant attentional distractions, with or without fat grafting. Conclusions This eye‐tracking study objectively demonstrates that total parotidectomy results in a facial contour deformity that is distracting to observers, whereas superficial parotidectomy does not. For total parotidectomy, this attentional distraction can be normalized with dermal fat graft reconstruction. Level of Evidence 3b Laryngoscope , 131:E124–E131, 2021