A novel peanut allergy immunotherapy: Plant-based enveloped Ara h 2 Bioparticles activate dendritic cells and polarize T cell responses to Th1.

Introduction: As the only market-authorized allergen immunotherapy (AIT) for peanut allergy is accompanied by a high risk of side effects and mainly induces robust desensitization without sustained efficacy, novel treatment options are required. Peanut-specific plant-derived Bioparticles (BPs) surface expressing Ara h 2 at high density have been shown to be very hypoallergenic. Here, we assessed the dendritic cell (DC)-activating and T cell polarization capacity of these peanut-specific BPs.

Design, production and immunomodulatory potency of a novel allergen bioparticle.

Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is the only disease-modifying treatment with evidence for sustained efficacy. However, it is poorly developed compared to symptomatic drugs. The main reasons come from treatment duration implying monthly injections during 3 to 5 years or daily sublingual use, and the risk of allergic side-effects.

Oral mucosal immunotherapy for allergic rhinitis: A pilot study.

Background: The sublingual mucosa has been used for many years to apply allergenic extracts for the purpose of specific immunotherapy (IT). Although sublingual IT (SLIT) is both safe and efficacious, the density of antigen-presenting cells is higher in other regions of the oral cavity and vestibule, which make them a potentially desirable target for IT.

Objective: To present the concept of oral mucosal IT (OMIT) and to provide pilot data for this extended application of SLIT.

Dosing of sublingual immunotherapy for allergic rhinitis: evidence-based review with recommendations.

Background: Since the mid 1980s, the clinical use of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) has dramatically increased. However, 1 of the primary barriers to providing SLIT is lack of a published dosing recommendations. The purpose of this work is to provide a range of effective SLIT dosing based upon a rigorous review of the existing evidence base.

Otoplasty: critical review of clinical results.

Although it is generally believed that otoplasty provides uniformly gratifying results, thorough patient follow-up reviews are quite rare. Otoplasty surgery performed on 119 ears was retrospectively reviewed to assess the results of our cartilage-sparing technique. This method of otoplasty relies on a conchal set-back and suture transfixation technique to improve the antihelical contour.

Extended blepharoplasty.

Extended blepharoplasty involves extending the dissection of the skin-muscle flap used in standard lower eyelid blepharoplasty to a level below the infraorbital rim. This technique is useful in the management of infraorbital, or malar, bags that are seen in as many as 10% of blepharoplasty candidates. A concomitant eyelid shortening procedure is frequently needed to treat horizontal eyelid laxity.

The hanging columella.

A hanging columella significantly detracts from otherwise pleasing nasal esthetics. Preoperative assessment of the nasal base is crucial to determine the etiology of a pre-existing hanging columella, and to assess the potential for creating such a deformity with rhinoplasty. Prevention or correction of a hanging columella requires surgical techniques that take into consideration the anatomic tip dynamic factors involved.

Cervicofacial liposuction: results and controversies.

Obtaining ideal results with cervicofacial rhytidectomy has long frustrated facial plastic surgeons due to the difficulty of removing local excesses of adipose tissue in the parotid, melolabial, submental and submandibular areas. Open and closed liposuction techniques are being developed in conjunction with the facelift to improve definition of the facial, mandibular and cervical contours. A review of the senior author's (PAA) cases of cervicofacial liposuction and rhytidectomy is presented with emphasis placed on surgical techniques and results.

Incision and scar analysis in open (external) rhinoplasty.

Open (external) rhinoplasty is becoming increasingly popular. Two of its disadvantages most frequently espoused are the difficulty in making the external incision atraumatically and the resulting scar. To diminish these concerns, different incision lines and methods of exposure have been proposed by various authors.

The contribution of brainstem electric response audiometry (BERA) to the evaluation and management of infants with cleft palate.

In the three-year period ending December 1986, 31 infants followed by the Cleft Palate Team of our institution were evaluated with BERA one or more times. Seventy-four percent presented auditory threshold elevation on initial examination; none was observed to resolve spontaneously in the first year of life. Myringotomy and tympanostomy tube insertion normalized auditory thresholds effectively in most children with serous otitis media.