Vacuum-assisted wound closure: a new approach to spinal wounds with exposed hardware.

Study Design: The use of vacuum-assisted therapy to close upper thoracic and thoracolumbar spinal wounds was studied retrospectively. Two patients whose wounds failed conservative management were successfully treated by negative pressure therapy.

Objectives: The authors evaluated the efficacy of applying vacuum therapy on patients with exposed spinal hardware and summarized current knowledge about this treatment.

The learning curve of an academic cardiac surgeon: use of the CUSUM method.

Background: Despite the sizeable volume of research on the determinants of outcome after cardiac operations, few articles have analyzed the learning curves of individual cardiac surgeons over time. The objective of our study was to analyze statistically the learning curve of an academic cardiac surgeon in reducing operative morbidity and mortality during a 10-year interval.

Methods: The study cohort of 1347 consecutive and unselected patients undergoing cardiac surgical operations from October 1988 to September 1998 were grouped into five 2-year blocks (periods 1 to 5) according to the date of operation.

Effect of amlodipine on hemodynamic and endocrine responses to mental stress.

Little is known about the effects of antihypertensive drugs on hemodynamic responses to mental stress. We studied 24 patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension in a double-blind random-sequence crossover study comparing placebo with amlodipine titrated up from 5 to 10 mg daily. After 1 month of treatment, the subjects performed 20 min of a frustrating cognitive task.

Characterization of CArG-binding protein A initially identified by differential display.

While investigating differences in the pattern of gene expression in functionally distinct areas of the rat caudate-putamen employing differential display, we identified a gene that is highly enriched in tissue adjacent to the lateral ventricle. To characterize the gene, a complementary DNA containing the complete coding sequence was obtained and sequenced. In addition, radiolabelled DNA and riboprobes were generated to examine the expression levels and anatomical distribution of the identified gene in the brain.

Metalloproteinases are involved in lipopolysaccharide- and tumor necrosis factor-alpha-mediated regulation of CXCR1 and CXCR2 chemokine receptor expression.

The neutrophil-specific G-protein-coupled chemokine receptors, CXCR1 and CXCR2, bind with high affinity to the potent chemoattractant interleukin-8 (IL-8). The mechanisms of IL-8 receptor regulation are not well defined, although previous studies have suggested a process of ligand-promoted internalization as a putative regulatory pathway. Herein, we provide evidence for two distinct processes of CXCR1 and CXCR2 regulation.

Pulmonary retransplantation.

Background And Methods: Despite improving results in lung transplantation, a significant number of grafts fail early or late postoperatively. The Pulmonary Retransplant Registry was founded in 1991 to determine the predictors of outcome after retransplantation, so as to facilitate decisions concerning the appropriateness of lung retransplantation in individual patients. In this study, 230 patients underwent retransplantation in 47 centers from 1985 to 1996.

Single platform flow cytometric absolute CD34+ cell counts based on the ISHAGE guidelines. International Society of Hematotherapy and Graft Engineering.

In concert with the International Society of Hematotherapy and Graft Engineering (ISHAGE), we previously described a set of guidelines for detection of CD34+ cells based on a four-parameter flow cytometry method (CD45 FITC/CD34 PE staining, side and forward angle light scatter). With this procedure, an absolute CD34+ count is generated by incorporating the leukocyte count from an automated hematology analyser (two-platform method). In the present study, we modified the basic ISHAGE method with the addition of a known number of Flow-Count fluorospheres.

Leukocyte activation and flow behavior in rat skeletal muscle in sepsis.

In animal models of endotoxemia, sepsis is associated with the accumulation of leukocytes and altered microvascular perfusion. In order to test the hypothesis that bacterial sepsis upregulates leukocyte-endothelial adhesion, we used intravital microscopy to examine the flow behavior of leukocytes in the postcapillary venules (PCV) of rats made septic by cecal ligation and perforation (CLP). Animals were randomized to CLP or sham study groups and studied 6 h, 24 h, or 48 h later.