The vegetal biomembrane in the healing of chronic venous ulcers.

Background: The vegetal biomembrane has been used to treat cutaneous ulcers.

Objectives: To assess the role of the vegetal biomembrane on the chronic venous ulcers treatment compared to treatment with collagenase cream.

Methods: Fourteen patients were selected to be treated with vegetal biomembrane and 7 with Fibrase(®) (CONTROL), followed clinically and photographically by the Wound Healing Index by ImageJ during 120 days and biopsied on the 1(st) and 30(th) days for histological examination.

Accuracy of clinical diagnosis of acute respiratory distress syndrome in comparison with autopsy findings.

Objective: To compare the American-European Consensus Conference (AECC) definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) to autopsy findings.

Methods: All patients who died in the intensive care unit of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora University Hospital between 1995 and 2003 and were submitted to autopsy were included in the study. Patient clinical charts were reviewed to establish whether cases met the AECC criteria for a diagnosis of ARDS, histologically defined as the presence of diffuse alveolar damage (DAD).

Antibody response of autogenous splenic tissue implanted in the abdominal cavity of mice.

There is still controversy about the immunologic function of autotransplanted splenic tissue. In this study, splenic autotransplantation was performed in the abdominal cavity of mice, and the plaque-forming cell (PFC) assay was used to investigate the frequency of antibody-forming cells in response to sheep red blood cell (SRBC) immunization. BALB/c mice were divided into four groups according to the location of the autogenous graft: intraomental (IO), free peritoneal splenosis (FPS), retroperitoneal (RP), and nongrafted control (CT).

Parinaud'S oculoglandular syndrome associated with paracoccidioidomycosis.

The authors report one case of Parinaud's oculoglandular syndrome associated with Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infection. No other medical report of this condition was found in the medical literature available at Index Medicus and Medline. The eye involvement has been rather uncommon in paracoccidioidomycosis and this report emphasizes the possibility of this kind of presentation making it also necessary to include paracoccidioidomycosis among the several known causes of Parinaud's oculoglandular syndrome.