Clinical course of asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis after total knee arthroplasty in Japanese patients.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to follow up Japanese patients with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and also to examine factors associated with residual thrombus within the sixth postoperative month.

Methods: DVT evaluation was performed by noninvasive venous ultrasonography. We retrospectively reviewed 88 Japanese patients (88 knees) receiving primary unilateral TKA, who had no preoperative DVT.

Skin perfusion pressure measurement to assess improvement in peripheral circulation after arterial reconstruction for critical limb ischemia.

Aim: To assess the utility of skin perfusion pressure (SPP) measurement in evaluating the outcome of vascular constructions for critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients.

Methods: We retrospectively studied 19 lower limbs in 18 patients who underwent arterial reconstruction for CLI from whom SPP measurements had been obtained pre- and postoperatively between 2008 and 2010. Six limbs whose ulcers had healed postoperatively were classified into group H, 7 limbs whose ulcers had not healed into group U, and 6 limbs without ulcers into group N.

Skin Perfusion Pressure is a Useful Tool for Evaluating Outcome of Ischemic Foot Ulcers with Conservative Therapy.

Objectives: This study intended to confirm whether skin perfusion pressure (SPP) could predict the outcome of ischemic wound healing.

Patients And Methods: Sixty-two limbs in 53 patients with conservative therapy were enrolled in this study. A SPP value of 40 mmHg was adopted as the criterion for making clinical decisions.

An ingenious design for peptide vaccines.

For humoral immunization, it may be possible to make effective and safe peptide vaccines for various diseases by selection of proper B-cell epitopes. However, a lack of T-cell epitopes on short peptides, such as those associated with major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-restriction, is a major problem for peptide vaccine development. We propose a solution for the design of peptide vaccines that involves induction of broadly reactive T-cell epitopes via agretopes.

RGD motif enhances immunogenicity and adjuvanicity of peptide antigens following intranasal immunization.

The use of peptides for various aspects of medical science has been a significant advance. Peptide-based vaccines are promising, but weak immunogenic potency is impeding the clinical application. We have remarkably enhanced the immunogenicity of peptide antigens by addition of motifs that bind to cell attachment proteins, such as arginine-glysine-aspartate (RGD), to the amino acid sequence.