Publications by authors named "Nina Kerk"

Livedoid vasculopathy is a rare, chronic occlusive disease of vessels supporting the upper layers of the skin. It is characterized by purpuric maculae and recurrent painful ulcerations mostly affecting the lower leg. These ulcerations occur episodically especially in summer time and heal slowly, leaving characteristic porcelain-white scars called ’atrophie blanche’.

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Livedoid vasculopathy is a rare, chronic, recurrent disease of the cutaneous microcirculation. Its typical clinical manifestation is a triad which consists of livedo racemosa of the skin, episodic painful ulcerations of the distal aspects of the legs and a healing process leaving small porcelain-white scars called atrophie blanche. As an important result of recent research, livedoid vasculopathy has been defined as a coagulation disorder classified as a vasculopathy different from inflammatory vasculitis.

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Background: The dissemination of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an increasing challenge in medical care. Apart from hospital acquired MRSA, there has also been an increase in community acquired and livestock associated MRSA. While the risks of MRSA (e.

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A leg ulcer is a symptom and the treating physician needs to find out its origin by differential diagnostic approaches and procedures. The correct diagnosis leads to a specific therapy that ideally accelerates the healing of the ulceration. Identifying the pathogenesis of a leg ulcer is the first and main step towards healing.

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Activation of the coagulation system in malignancy enables tumor spreading and is thus associated with poor prognosis for the patient. In this study, we analyzed the in vitro mechanisms by which two human metastatic melanoma cell lines, MV3 and WM9, transform the vascular endothelium into a prothrombotic activated state. We show that both melanoma cell lines activate prothrombin due to tissue factor (TF) expression by showing that thrombin generation was blocked with a TF-neutralizing antibody and TF-siRNA.

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