Vocal cords dysfunction resulting from heterotopic ossification in a patient with burns.

Limitation of movement of vocal cords developed in a 38-year-old man after he received a 45% second- and third-degree burn with ossification about the cricoarytenoid joints, which indicated that the lesion had been caused by heterotropic ossification. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report in medical literature of heterotopic ossification as a mechanical cause of vocal cords dysfunction in the patient with critical burns. Diphosphonate (Didronel) treatment has improved the function of the vocal cords after 11 months of therapy.

Postburn peroneal nerve palsy--a report of two consecutive cases.

We report two patients suffering from mixed deep partial and full skin thickness flame burns covering 45 and 95 per cent of the total body surface area respectively. These patients, following sepsis and multisystem failure, developed unilateral peroneal nerve palsy. The possible aetiology of isolated injury to the peroneal nerve in burned and critically ill trauma patients is discussed.

A simple splinting device for skin grafts of the penis.

A simple method to ensure penile skin graft immobilization and easy accessibility is presented. The method uses a hollow cylinder made of plaster-cast material applied to the pubis around the penis, to which the long tails of the skin graft threads are fixed. The method is inexpensive, simple to use, and comfortable both for patients and for the nursing staff.

Familial leg ulcers of juvenile onset.

Chronic ulceration of the legs was found in the propositus and in ten male relatives in a family of Iraqi Jews. All eleven males had juvenile onset of symptoms. Venous lesions with ulceration were found in two of the propositus' brothers and without ulceration in his three sisters.