Does Barbed Suture Repair Negate the Benefit of Peripheral Repair in Porcine Flexor Tendon?

Advances in suture material and geometry have fueled interest in barbed suture tenorrhaphy. Theoretically, barbed suture allows better load distribution, smoother gliding under pulleys, and improved tendon blood flow. Minimal data exist on whether barbed tendon repair may benefit from supplementation by a peripheral stitch.

Comparison of Barbed Sutures in Porcine Flexor Tenorrhaphy.

Barbed suture use has become more popular as technology and materials have advanced. Minimal data exist regarding performance of the 2 commercially available products, V-LocTM and StratafixTM in tendon repairs. The purpose of this study was to compare gap resistance and ultimate tensile strength of both suture materials and nonbarbed suture in a porcine ex vivo model.

Comparison of spectral/Fourier domain optical coherence tomography instruments for assessment of normal macular thickness.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report normal macular thickness measurements and assess reproducibility of retinal thickness measurements acquired by a time-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) (Stratus, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Dublin, CA) and three commercially available spectral/Fourier domain OCT instruments (Cirrus HD-OCT, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc.; RTVue-100, Optovue, Inc.

Assessment of artifacts and reproducibility across spectral- and time-domain optical coherence tomography devices.

Purpose: To report the frequency of optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan artifacts and to compare macular thickness measurements, interscan reproducibility, and interdevice agreeability across 3 spectral-domain (SD) OCT (also known as Fourier domain; Cirrus HD-OCT, RTVue-100, and Topcon 3D-OCT 1000) devices and 1 time-domain (TD) OCT (Stratus OCT) device.

Design: Prospective, noncomparative, noninterventional case series.

Participants: Fifty-two patients seen at the New England Eye Center, Tufts Medical Center Retina Service, between February and August 2008.

A novel murine model of cyclical cutaneous ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Background: Increasing evidence points to a principal role of ischemia-reperfusion in the pathogenesis of chronic skin ulceration, including pressure sores, diabetic ulcers, and venous ulcers. An incomplete understanding of this process and the limitations of current animal models of chronic wounds mandate a reproducible model in mice, in which transgenic and knockout technology are continually evolving.

Materials And Methods: A murine model of chronic skin ulceration based on cyclical magnetic compression is presented.