Letter: The "reading man" flap in facial reconstruction: report of 12 cases

Reconstruction of defects in the infraorbital, malar, and temporal areas after tumor resection may present problems such as distortion of anatomic points and extra normal skin removal. The "reading man" flap is a recent local flap procedure, which has been used to solve those problems. We report our experience with this procedure, which has been used for the closure of circular defects in 12 patients (7 men and 5 women), aged 68 to 86 years (mean age: 77 years), who had undergone surgical excisions of basal cell carcinomas of the temporal, malar, and infraorbital regions. The functional and aesthetical results were satisfactory in all cases. In our experience, the "reading man" flap is a useful option for the reconstruction of circular defects in these facial areas.