Staged excision of lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma: a 10-year experience.

Background: The treatment of lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma presents a difficult problem for clinicians. Published guidelines recommend a 5-mm excision margin for lentigo maligna and a 1-cm margin for lentigo maligna melanoma, yet these are often inadequate. The authors' purpose is to report their 10-year experience using staged excision for the treatment of lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma of the head and neck.

Lentigo maligna: diagnosis and treatment.

Lentigo maligna is an overgrowth of atypical melanocytes at the dermal-epidermal junction also known as melanoma in situ. Left untreated, these lesions can continue to grow, resulting in dermal invasion and progression to lentigo maligna melanoma. Many operative and nonoperative treatments have been developed with the goals of preserving function and cosmesis while at the same time addressing the diffuse nature of these lesions.

Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction: an improvement in detecting mRNA levels in mouse cranial tissue.

Background: Quantitation of messenger RNA levels has traditionally been carried out by Northern blot analysis. While this is regarded as the standard method, it is time-consuming and requires large quantities of RNA. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction is a semiquantitative method that has been used as a more rapid and sensitive alternative to Northern blotting.

A simple method for estimating respiratory solute dilution in exhaled breath condensates.

Exhaled breath condensates have been widely used to detect inflammatory mediators in the fluid that covers airway surfaces of patients with inflammatory lung disorders. This approach is much less invasive than bronchoalveolar lavage, but respiratory droplets are markedly diluted by large and variable amounts of water vapor. We estimated the dilution of respiratory droplets by comparing concentrations of nonvolatile, reference indicators (total nonvolatile cations, urea or conductivity) in 18 normal subjects with normal plasma concentrations by assuming similar concentrations in the respiratory fluid and plasma.

Exhaled breath condensates: a potential novel technique for detecting aspiration.

There is an urgent need for diagnostic procedures that can detect aspiration of oral and gastrointestinal (GI) secretions into the respiratory tract. Current approaches are limited by poor sensitivity and specificity. These techniques include (1) adding indicators to feedings; (2) recovery of lipid-filled macrophages in respiratory secretions; (3) measurement of changes in the pH of the upper GI and respiratory tracts; (4) endoscopic visualization of reflux events; and (5) measurement of increased glucose concentrations in respiratory secretions.

Dilution of respiratory solutes in exhaled condensates.

Most exhaled water is produced as gaseous water vapor, which can be collected in cooled condensers. The presence of nonvolatile solutes in these condensates suggests that droplets of respiratory fluid (RF) have also been collected. However, calculation of RF solute concentrations from condensates requires estimation of the dilution of RF droplets by water vapor.