Characteristics, treatments and outcomes in patients with severe burn wounds; a 10 year cohort study on acute and reconstructive treatment.

Reports on treatment characteristics and long term outcomes for severe burns are scarce, while the need to compare outcomes of novel treatment modalities to standard of care is increasing. Our national database on burn treatment enabled analysis of patient as well as treatment characteristics during acute treatment and following reconstructive procedures. Furthermore, outcome data of longitudinal scar assessments were analysed from a single burn centre database.

A one year follow-up on quality of adherent scars after autologous fat grafting processed by a filtration technique.

Autologous fat grafting (AFG), mostly in combination with adhesiolysis, has become the workhorse for reconstructing a dysfunctional or absent subcutaneous layer. In a previous study we showed that fat grafts isolated by centrifuging led to more than 20 % improvement in scar pliability. Nevertheless, there is still debate on which technique should be used to process and purify fat grafts.

Two waves of massive stars running away from the young cluster R136.

Massive stars are predominantly born in stellar associations or clusters. Their radiation fields, stellar winds and supernovae strongly impact their local environment. In the first few million years of a cluster's life, massive stars are dynamically ejected and run away from the cluster at high speed.

Development of a value-based healthcare burns core set for adult burn care.

Background: Value-based healthcare (VBHC) is increasingly implemented in healthcare worldwide. Transparent measurement of the outcomes most important and relevant to patients is essential in VBHC, which is supported by a core set of most important quality indicators and outcomes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a VBHC-burns core set for adult burn patients.

Thermal Imaging for Burn Wound Depth Assessment: A Mixed-Methods Implementation Study.

Implementing innovations emerging from clinical research can be challenging. Thermal imagers provide an accessible diagnostic tool to increase the accuracy of burn wound depth assessment. This mixed-methods implementation study aimed to assess the barriers and facilitators, design implementation strategies, and guide the implementation process of thermal imaging in the outpatient clinic of a burn centre.

Endoscopic full-thickness resection of a solitary ovarian carcinoma colorectal metastasis.

A woman in her 70s with a medical history of recurrent ovarian carcinoma was referred to the gastroenterologist because of rectal blood loss. Colonoscopy revealed a spontaneously bleeding lesion, which was not a typical colorectal carcinoma by optical diagnosis. Biopsies confirmed the diagnosis of recurrence of the former ovarian carcinoma.

Short- and Long-term Outcomes of an Acellular Dermal Substitute versus Standard of Care in Burns and Reconstructions: A Phase I/II Intrapatient Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: Dermal substitutes promote dermal regeneration and improve scar quality, but knowledge gaps remain regarding their efficacy and indications for use. The authors investigated the safety and short- and long-term efficacy of an acellular dermal substitute in patients with full-thickness wounds.

Methods: This intrapatient randomized controlled, open-label, phase I (safety) and phase II (efficacy) study compared treatment with Novomaix (Matricel GmbH), a dermal collagen/elastin-based scaffold, with split-thickness skin graft (STSG) only.

The impact of necrotizing soft tissue infections on the lives of survivors: a qualitative study.

Purpose: Necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTI) are potentially lethal infections marked by local tissue destruction and systemic sepsis, which require aggressive treatment. Survivors often face a long recovery trajectory. This study was initiated to increase understanding of the long-term impact of NSTI on health related quality of life (HRQoL), and how care may be improved.

Frailty Screening Practice in Specialized Burn Care-A Retrospective Multicentre Cohort Study.

Frailty can have a negative influence on outcomes in elderly patients after burn injuries. The Dutch hospitals have used a four-domain frailty screening instrument from the Dutch Safety Management System (DSMS) since 2012. However, its feasibility and validity have hardly been studied.

Burn-injured skin is marked by a prolonged local acute inflammatory response of innate immune cells and pro-inflammatory cytokines.

The systemic and local immune response in burn patients is often extreme and derailed. As excessive inflammation can damage healthy tissues and slow down the healing process, modulation of inflammatory responses could limit complications and improve recovery. Due to its complexity, more detailed information on the immune effects of thermal injury is needed to improve patient outcomes.

Neurodegeneration and humoral response proteins in cerebrospinal fluid associate with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis and not monophasic demyelinating syndromes in childhood.

Background: Pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS) represents the earliest stage of disease pathogenesis. Investigating the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteome in POMS may provide novel insights into early MS processes.

Objective: To analyze CSF obtained from children at time of initial central nervous system (CNS) acquired demyelinating syndrome (ADS), to compare CSF proteome of those subsequently ascertained as having POMS versus monophasic acquired demyelinating syndrome (mADS).

Stepping Stones in CO Utilization: Optimizing the Formate to Oxalate Coupling Reaction Using Response Surface Modeling.

One of the crucial steps for the conversion of CO into polymers is the catalytic formate to oxalate coupling reaction (FOCR). Formate can be obtained from the (electro)catalytic reduction of CO, while oxalate can be further processed toward building blocks for modern plastics. In its 175 year history, multiple parameters for the FOCR have been suggested to be of importance.

Validity of laser speckle contrast imaging for the prediction of burn wound healing potential.

Objective: To assess validity of Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging (LSCI) for the measurement of burn wound healing potential (HP) in a burn centre patient population, based on Laser Doppler Imaging (LDI) as reference standard.

Method: A single-centre prospective observational cohort study was performed between September-December 2019. A total of 50 burns in 14 patients were included.

Antibacterial and safety tests of a flexible cold atmospheric plasma device for the stimulation of wound healing.

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) devices generate an ionized gas with highly reactive species and electric fields at ambient air pressure and temperature. A flexible dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) was developed as an alternative antimicrobial treatment for chronic wounds. Treatment of Staphylococcus aureus in collagen-elastin matrices with CAP for 2 min resulted in a 4 log reduction.

Persistent Systemic Inflammation in Patients With Severe Burn Injury Is Accompanied by Influx of Immature Neutrophils and Shifts in T Cell Subsets and Cytokine Profiles.

Severe burn injury causes local and systemic immune responses that can persist up to months, and can lead to systemic inflammatory response syndrome, organ damage and long-term sequalae such as hypertrophic scarring. To prevent these pathological conditions, a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms is essential. In this longitudinal study, we analyzed the temporal peripheral blood immune profile of 20 burn wound patients admitted to the intensive care by flow cytometry and secretome profiling, and compared this to data from 20 healthy subjects.

Cerebrospinal Fluid of Preeclamptic and Normotensive Pregnant Women Compared to Nonpregnant Women Analyzed with Mass Spectrometry.

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy-specific multiorgan disorder in which impaired placental functioning and excessive oxidative stress play an important role. We previously showed distinct differences between cerebrospinal fluid proteins in patients with preeclampsia and normotensive pregnant women. An additional group of nonpregnant women was included to study the presence of pregnancy-related proteins in normotensive and preeclamptic pregnancies and whether pregnancy-related proteins were associated with preeclampsia.

Differences in DNA methylation of insulin-like growth factor 2 and cadherin 13 in patients with preeclampsia.

Objectives: In a previous mass spectrometry study of our research group, 25 proteins were found to be differentially expressed in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with preeclampsia compared to controls. The objective of the current study was to investigate DNA methylation of the genes encoding for the former mentioned proteins in an independent dataset.

Study Design: In a nested case-control study of the Rotterdam Periconceptional Cohort, placental tissue, umbilical cord white blood cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were obtained of 13 patients with early-onset preeclampsia, 16 patients with late-onset preeclampsia and 83 normotensive controls (27 patients with fetal growth restriction, 20 patients with spontaneous preterm birth and 36 uncomplicated pregnancies).

Course of prevalence of scar contractures limiting function: A preliminary study in children and adolescents after burns.

Background: Scar contracture is a well-known sequela of burns that is specifically relevant as it may limit function. Reports regarding the course of scar contractures, however, are scarce and, moreover, not focussed on function. This study describes the course of prevalence of scar contractures that limit function in children and adolescents after burns.

Predictability of exercise capacity following pediatric burns: a preliminary investigation.

Purpose: Describe the course of exercise capacity in pediatric burn patients during the initial 6 months after hospital discharge, and examine whether its recovery can be predicted from burn characteristics, sociodemographic characteristics, and/or prior assessment.

Materials And Methods: Exercise capacity was assessed at discharge, and 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after discharge using the Steep Ramp Test (SRT).

Results: Twenty-four pediatric patients with burns affecting 0.

Novel CSF biomarkers in genetic frontotemporal dementia identified by proteomics.

Objective: To identify novel CSF biomarkers in -associated frontotemporal dementia (FTD) by proteomics using mass spectrometry (MS).

Methods: Unbiased MS was applied to CSF samples from 19 presymptomatic and 9 symptomatic mutation carriers and 24 noncarriers. Protein abundances were compared between these groups.

Chimeric XNA: An Unconventional Design for Orthogonal Informational Systems.

The paradigm of homogenous-sugar-backbone of RNA and DNA has reliably guided the construction of many functional and useful xeno nucleic acid (XNA) systems to date. Deviations from this monotonous and canonical design, in many cases, results in oligonucleotide systems that lack base pairing with themselves, or with RNA or DNA. Here we show that nucleotides of two such compromised XNA systems can be combined with RNA and DNA in specific patterns to produce chimeric-backbone oligonucleotides, which in certain cases demonstrate base pairing properties comparable to-or stronger than-canonical systems, while also altering the conventional Watson-Crick pairing behavior.

Cleavable Crosslinkers as Tissue Fixation Reagents for Proteomic Analysis.

Formaldehyde fixation is widely used for long-term maintenance of tissue. However, due to formaldehyde-induced crosslinks, fixed tissue proteins are difficult to extract, which hampers mass spectrometry (MS) proteomic analyses. Recent years have seen the use of different combinations of high temperature and solubilizing agents (usually derived from antigen retrieval techniques) to unravel formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue proteomes.

High and individually variable enzymatic activity precludes accurate determination of pemetrexed, methotrexate and their polyglutamate metabolite concentrations in plasma.

Most drugs are metabolized in the human body. Therefore, it is essential for therapeutic drug monitoring studies to also take into account the concentrations of drug metabolites. One of the possible metabolic activities on drugs such as pemetrexed or methotrexate is (poly)glutamation.

Decreased Neuro-Axonal Proteins in CSF at First Attack of Suspected Multiple Sclerosis.

The pathology of multiple sclerosis is located in the central nervous system, therefore cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is an attractive biofluid for biomarker research for proteins related to the early stages of this disease. In this study, the CSF proteome of patients with a clinically isolated syndrome of demyelination (CIS, a first attack of multiple sclerosis) is compared to the CSF proteome of control patients to identify differentially abundant proteins. CSF samples of 47 CIS patients and 45 control subjects are enzymatically digested and subsequently measured by LC-MS/MS (LTQ-Orbitrap).

Elevated levels of protein AMBP in cerebrospinal fluid of women with preeclampsia compared to normotensive pregnant women.

Purpose: To investigate the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteome of patients with preeclampsia (PE) and normotensive pregnant women, in order to provide a better understanding of brain involvement in PE.

Experimental Design: Ninety-eight CSF samples (43 women with PE and 55 normotensive controls) were analyzed by LC-MS/MS proteome profiling. CSF was obtained during the spinal puncture before caesarean delivery.