A randomised, open-label, parallel-group, multicentre, comparative study to compare the efficacy and safety of Exufiber® with Aquacel® Extra™ dressings in exuding venous and mixed aetiology leg ulcers.

The performance and safety of Exufiber® gelling fibre and Aquacel® Extra™ Hydrofiber® wound dressings were compared for the management of chronic, exuding leg ulcers. The 6-week study (≤ 24 weeks in a subgroup of subjects) was a randomised, open-label, parallel-group, multicentre, non-inferiority design. Adults (n = 248, 30-97 years of age) were randomised to either Exufiber® or Aquacel® Extra™ dressing.

A novel approach to the antimicrobial activity of maggot debridement therapy.

Objectives: Commercially produced sterile green bottle fly Lucilia sericata maggots are successfully employed by practitioners worldwide to clean a multitude of chronic necrotic wounds and reduce wound bacterial burdens during maggot debridement therapy (MDT). Secretions from the maggots exhibit antimicrobial activity along with other activities beneficial for wound healing. With the rise of multidrug-resistant bacteria, new approaches to identifying the active compounds responsible for the antimicrobial activity within this treatment are imperative.

High prevalence of peripheral arterial disease in patients with previous cerebrovascular or coronary event.

Aim: The presence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in patients with other manifestations of cardiovascular disease identifies a population at increased risk of complications both during acute coronary events and on a long-term basis and possibly a population in whom secondary prevention of cardiovascular events should be addressed aggressively. The present study was aimed at providing a valid estimate on the prevalence of PAD in patients attending their general practitioner and having previously suffered a cardio- or cerebrovascular event.

Patients And Methods: 1000 patients with a previous cardiovascular event were screened and PAD was considered present when the ankle-brachial index (ABI) of systolic blood pressure was less than 0.

Quorum-sensing-regulated virulence factors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa are toxic to Lucilia sericata maggots.

Maggot debridement therapy (MDT) is widely used for debridement of chronic infected wounds; however, for wounds harbouring specific bacteria limited effect or failure of the treatment has been described. Here we studied the survival of Lucilia sericata maggots encountering Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 in a simple assay with emphasis on the quorum-sensing (QS)-regulated virulence. The maggots were challenged with GFP-tagged P.

Pressure-aided transfusion of platelets: does it affect the platelets?

Background: In massively bleeding patients, pressure infusers are used for transfusion of red blood cells and plasma but not for platelets (PLTs) due to an assumed negative effect on the PLTs. This study examined whether pressure-aided in vitro transfusion affected the number, activation state, and/or function of the PLTs as measured by flow cytometry and thrombelastography (TEG).

Study Design And Methods: PLT concentrates stored for 1 (n = 8) or 8 (n = 7) days were transfused in vitro by means of a pressure inducer (300 mmHg).

Gene-expression profiling of CD34+ hematopoietic cells expanded in a collagen I matrix.

CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSCs) reside in the bone marrow in close proximity to the endosteal bone surface, surrounded by osteoblasts, stromal cells, and various extracellular matrix molecules. We used a bioartificial matrix of fibrillar collagen I, the major matrix component of bone, as a scaffold for ex vivo expansion of HSCs. CD34+ HSCs were isolated from umbilical cord blood and cultivated within reconstituted collagen I fibrils in the presence of fms-like tyrosine kinase-3 ligand, stem cell factor, and interleukin (IL)-3.

An experimental model for stricture studies in the anterior urethra of the male rabbit.

In this study, an animal model was developed for the examination of urethral strictures (US). Through a resectoscope, a resection was made in the urethras of 15 male rabbits. After 30 days, the rabbits were evaluated with urethrography, impedance planimetry and either histology or the determination of collagen content.

Pseudoaneurysm of the left ventricle as a complication of septic embolism.

A case report of pseudoaneurysm (PA) of the left ventricle due to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) caused by septic embolism from the infected aortic valve is presented. The patient was operated upon with resection of the left ventricular wall and insertion of a bioprosthesis in the aortic ostium. Because of reoccurrence of PA 4 weeks postoperatively due to a pinhole defect in the left ventricular wall near the suture-line, reoperation was performed.

Ethanol production with Saccharomyces cerevisiae under aerobic conditions at different potassium concentrations.

The specific ethanol productivity with Saccharomyces cerevisiae grown aerobicly in a chemostat was found to be highly dependent on the ratio of intracellular to extracellular potassium concentration through variations in the energy consumption used for maintenance of the concentration gradient of potassium across the cell membrane. The specific ethanol productivity progressively rose from 0 to 20 mmol h(-1) g(-1) cell dry matter at a growth rate of 0.17 h(-1) when the ratio of intracellular to extracellular potassium concentration was increased from 10 to 80.