Value of mandatory screening studies in emergency department patients cleared for psychiatric admission.

Introduction: Laboratory and radiographic studies are often required by psychiatric services prior to admitting emergency patients who are otherwise deemed medically stable. Such testing may represent an unnecessary expense that prolongs emergency department stays without significantly improving care. This study determines the prevalence of such testing and how often it leads to changes in care.

Angiogenic gene-modified muscle cells for enhancement of tissue formation.

Engineering muscle tissue with inadequate vascularity may lead to fibrosis and loss of muscle function. In this study we combined the isolation and genetic engineering of myoblasts with tissue transplantation in an attempt to create well-vascularized muscle tissue. Myoblasts were obtained from a single explant of adult Lewis rat myofibers and transfected with a bicistronic plasmid encoding vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) or with a plasmid encoding a nonfunctional VEGF-alkaline phosphatase (AP) fusion protein.