Effects of cryoprecipitate on the healing of chronic wounds.

Basic research has promise for clinical wound healing. Purified wound healing growth factors are not available for clinical use, but they are present in plasma and platelets and have been used in patients. Chronic wounds would seem to be good for study since the wound surface is easily measured and the patient is anxious for progress.

Effects of 7 successive days of unaccustomed prolonged exercise on aerobic performance and tissue damage in fitness joggers.

The effects of 7 successive days of prolonged jogging on aerobic performance and biochemical markers of muscle and red blood cell damage were examined in 10 moderately fit men, ages 27 +/- 2 yr (mean +/- SE). The subjects jogged for 2 h per day at 78 +/- 4% of maximal heart rates and covered a total of 129 +/- 2 km, nearly eight times their regular weekly training distance. At baseline, maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) during treadmill tests averaged 3.

Thrombosis at mountain altitudes.

Victims of high-altitude pulmonary edema often have clots obstructing the pulmonary vessels. This, together with an apparent high incidence of thrombophlebitis and cerebral emboli at altitude suggests that mountain travel may predispose to hypercoagulability. A critical analysis of the available data suggests that, although thrombosis may be a late event complicating various forms of mountain sickness, the laboratory techniques of characterizing hypercoagulability are not sufficient to define and characterize the mechanism.

Determination of heat gain in the inferior vena cava during thermodilution measurements.

The measurement of blood flow in the inferior vena cava (IVC) by thermodilution may be useful in the determination of hepatic venous blood flow (HVBF), but is subject to major errors. The most serious error is gain of heat from the abdominal viscera by the cool thermodiluent bolus as it moves up the IVC. The determination or elimination of this heat gain is necessary for accurate IVC blood flow measurement.