Delayed wound healing after laser resurfacing.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K Nouri.
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BACKGROUND: Microcystic adnexal carcinoma (MAC) is a malignant appendageal tumor first described in 1982. It can be clinically and histologically confused with other malignant and benign cutaneous neoplasms, leading to inadequate initial treatment. This neoplasm is locally aggressive and deeply infiltrating, characterized by high morbidity and frequent recurrence. Mohs micrographic surgery has been used to conserve tissue and improve the likelihood for cure. OBJECTIVE: We report our experience using Mohs micrographic surgery for the treatment of MAC and compare with earlier reports in the literature. In addition, we review the epidemiology, clinical and histologic characteristics, and optimal treatment of this rare neoplasm. We also describe a 15-year-old white male patient with MAC on the scalp occurring only 7 years after radiation exposure. METHODS: The medical records of 11 patients with MAC who were treated by Mohs micrographic surgery were reviewed at both departments, and follow-up data were obtained. RESULTS: In all patients treated with Mohs micrographic surgery, there were no recurrences after a mean follow-up of 5 years. CONCLUSION: Mohs technique enables the detection of clinically unrecognizable tumor spread and perineural invasion often encountered with MAC. Aggressive initial treatment by microscopically controlled excision appears to offer the greatest likelihood of cure for this neoplasm, while providing conservation of normal tissue. In addition, we describe the second youngest patient with MAC and readdress the issue of previous radiotherapy as an important predisposing factor.
BACKGROUND: Striae distensae, or stretch marks, are a very common cosmetic problem. The successful management of stretch marks has long been a source of frustration and curiosity for both the clinician and the researcher. Recent studies suggest lasers may have a role in their management. As yet, no study has reported on the effects of either of these lasers in the treatment of stretch marks on persons with skin types 4 to 6. OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of short pulsed CO2 laser and pulsed dye laser for the treatment of stretch marks in skin types 4, 5, and 6. METHODS: Four patients were initially enrolled in the study. All were female with abdominal stretch marks, present for a range of 8 to 19 years. The patients had skin types ranging from 4 to 6. The test area consisted of a stretch mark long enough to be divided into three contiguous 2 cm sections, labeled A, B, and C. Section A served as the short pulsed CO2 test site, section B served as a control, while section C served as the 585 nm pulsed dye site. Patients were seen for evaluation after 1 week, then every 4 weeks for a total of 20 weeks. Patients were evaluated subjectively by the investigators, and the patients' own self-evaluation was reported as well. RESULTS: Following the 585 nm pulse dye laser, at 20 week follow-up patients with type 4 skin showed no improvement, while type 6 skin showed hyperpigmentation. The short pulsed CO2 test site showed persistent erythema in type 4 skin and marked hyperpigmentation in type 6 skin. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with types 4, 5, and 6 skin, laser treatment of striae should be avoided or used with great caution.
BACKGROUND: Histologic studies indicate that C&D fails to mechanically remove all the tumor in a percentage of cases that far exceeds the 5-year recurrence rate. This raises the question that if C&D does not mechanically remove the tumor in a significant number of patients, why don't we observe tumor recurrence in most of these patients? Our previous study indicates that inflammation occurring over 1 month following C&D does not clear residual tumor. It may be some other process, requiring more time, that clears the residual tumor. Perhaps the proliferative or maturation phase of wound healing or, alternatively, a slow-acting process such as a low-grade immune response set in motion earlier, clears the residual tumor. OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that wound healing and maturation following C&D clear residual tumor that has not mechanically removed by the procedure. METHODS: The frequency of residual BCC detected histologically immediately following C&D was compared with the frequency 3 months after the C&D, an amount of time in which the maturation phase of wound healing is well under way. RESULTS: Twenty-two of 29 primary BCC less than 1 cm in size were tumor-free immediately following the procedure (clearance rate 75.9%). Twelve primary BCC <1 cm were treated by C&D, allowed to heal for 3 months, and then excised and checked histologically. Ten of the twelve BCC were free of tumor, for a clearance rate of 83.3%, which is not a statistically significant difference (p = 0.7187). CONCLUSION: By 3 months, the proliferative phase of wound healing is complete, and our study indicates that this phase has no effect on clearing the tumor. The maturation phase is well under way three months following C&D, and no statistically significant effect was observed.
BACKGROUND: Melasma is very difficult to treat and often refractory to treatment with topical creams and pigmented-lesion lasers. OBJECTIVE: Pulsed CO2 laser alone is compared with the combination of pulsed CO2 laser followed by Q-switched alexandrite laser in the treatment of dermal-type melasma. This combination is proposed to be effective by first destroying the abnormal melanocytes with the pulsed CO2 laser and then selectively eliminating the dermal melanin with the alexandrite laser. METHODS: Four patients were randomly chosen for each treatment arm. There were multiple follow-up visits for examination by an objective blinded investigator. RESULTS: All patients in the combination laser group showed complete resolution, and two patients in the CO2 laser only group had peripheral hyperpigmentation in the long-term follow-up evaluation. CONCLUSION: These laser therapies are safe, as there was no scarring and no infection. The combination laser therapy was highly effective in removing the hyperpigmentation and all patients in this group showed complete resolution without any peripheral hyperpigmentation.
BACKGROUND: With the emergence of new laser and dermatologic procedures, the need for more effective topical anesthesia continues to grow. There are now several topical anesthetics that are being used prior to laser and surgical procedures. OBJECTIVE: To compare the degree and duration of anesthesia produced by four commonly used topical anesthetics, we performed a prospective study investigating the efficacy of EMLA (eutectic mixture of local anesthetics), ELA-Max, 4% tetracaine gel, and betacaine-LA ointment (formerly eutectic-LA). METHODS: Equal amounts of the above topical anesthetics plus a control (eucerin cream) were applied to 10 test sites under occlusion on the volar forearms of 12 adult volunteers. After a 60-minute application time, the degree of anesthesia was assessed immediately by a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm. Pain testing was also performed 30 minutes after the 60-minute application period. Volunteer responses to pain stimuli were recorded using an ordinal scale of 0 (no pain) to 4 (maximal pain). The mean scores for the time intervals were obtained. Analysis of the data was performed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), Newman-Keuls test, Friedman rank order test, and paired t-tests. RESULTS: ELA-Max, EMLA, and tetracaine were statistically superior to control after the 60-minute application period. Thirty minutes later, ELA-Max, EMLA, tetracaine, and betacaine-LA were all statistically superior to the control. Comparing individual anesthetics, ELA-Max and EMLA were the superior anesthetics at both time intervals. Although the mean pain scores for each anesthetic were lower 30 minutes after their removal, the differences did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: This is the first prospective study comparing the efficacy of several new topical anesthetic agents. Using the methodology of this study, in which the anesthetics were applied under occlusion, ELA-Max and EMLA were the superior anesthetics after a 60-minute application time and 30 minutes later. In addition, there was a clinical increase in efficacy suggested with all of the anesthetics 30 minutes after their removal.
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We performed four annual audits of tuberculin tests performed on hospitalized patients at a university teaching hospital complex. Each audit assessed if tests were performed and read correctly. House staff performed skin testing in years 1 to 3. Despite interventions of teaching and then of written instructions on skin testing, performance was poor. When testing was turned over in year 4 to trained infection control practitioners, performance approached 100%. We conclude that university teaching hospitals should assess skin-testing performance.
Fludarabine is not used as a topical medication for the treatment of psoriasis. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of fludarabine for this purpose. Four male patients with two bilaterally symmetrical psoriatic plaques were treated with 0.2 percent topical fludarabine in aquaphor (fludarabine site) or aquaphor alone (control site). The fludarabine and control sites were compared before and during the study on a weekly basis for three weeks by degree of redness, scaliness, and thickness on a scale of 0 to 4 (0, not apparent; 4, very apparent). The results of our study showed no significant difference between topical fludarabine and aquaphor in the treatment of psoriatic plaques.
We report a case of vitiligo that occurred during the second month of interferon alpha 2a therapy for chronic active hepatitis C. The patient received the interferon for four months.
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Cholinergic transmission may be part of the normal neurochemical processes that support spontaneous ventilation. If this is true, perturbations in acetylcholine (ACh) turnover should alter ventilatory output in a predictable manner. With the use of the isolated perfused brain stem-spinal axis from the neonatal rat, the effects of modifiers of ACh release and blockers of muscarinic receptors on spontaneous C4 (phrenic) output were determined. Vesamicol and cetiedil, inhibitors of ACh release, caused depression and cessation of the C4 output in a dose-dependent manner when added to the perfusate. Muscarinic blockers, particularly M1 and M3 blockers, caused a similar depression. 4-Aminopyridine and tetraethylammonium chloride, facilitators of ACh release, caused stimulation of C4 (phrenic) output. The depressive effects of the blockers and inhibitors were reversible with facilitation of ACh release except in the case of cetiedil. These findings are consistent with the view that the synaptic turnover of endogenous ACh is an important part of the normal neurochemical process that supports and modulates ventilation.
Cystic lymphangioma is a rare tumour (6% of benign tumours in children), frequently situated in the cervical or axillary region and exceptionally intraabdominal. It arises due to a congenital defect in the connection of the primary lymphatic channels with the central collecting system. It presents clinically either in the form of a pseudo-appendix or pseudo-ascites syndrome or in the form of an abdominal tumour with or without compression of adjacent structures. It can now be easily diagnosed by ultrasonography. Treatment is well defined and consists of surgical resection of the isolated lymphangioma or associated with the adjacent intestine, depending on the site of the tumour. It has a good prognosis.
Adenocarcinomas are the most frequent ethmoid tumors. The only curative treatment at present is surgery. Potential extensions of these tumors require a wide exeresis. This is best ensured with an approach that is cranial and of the Cairns type at first, then in some cases facial and patterned on the Moure-Sebileau course of approach. This procedure demands the immediate reconstruction of the 3 levels involved: the dura mater, the bone and the mucosa of the nasal fossae. We reconstruct the dura mater with a pericranial flap, the bone with bone grafts, and the mucosa with a flap from the galea.
The blue naevus is an essentially benign tumour. However, the cellular variety may rarely undergo malignant transformation. The authors report an unusual case of blue naevus in terms of size and evolution. This tumour which involved the occipitovertebral and parotid regions infiltrated underlying tissues and organs, in particular, the occipital bone, the dura mater and the parotid gland. The clinical, histological and histogenic problems associated with the blue naevus are discussed. There are only scattered reports of tumours of a similar nature in the literature and for this reason we felt that this case merited being reported.
Because of the septic environment, the reconstruction of extensive losses of substance of the mandible has always raised numerous problems, especially as in a certain number of cases, concomitant radiotherapy represents an additional difficulty. Free flaps offer an important contribution. Up until now, we have essentially used the anterior iliac crest flap vascularised by the deep iliac circumflex pedicle. After 55 flaps of this type, the authors present an analysis of their results and try to analyse the causes for the failures. On the basis of their experience, they consider: that it is preferable to perform the bone and soft tissue repair by means of two different procedures (or at least by means of two different pedicles); that it is preferable, as far as possible, to perform immediate reconstructions rather than deferred reconstructions, especially in the case of malignant tumours.
Since 1983 we have inserted more than 100 temporomandibular joint prostheses. A review after 6 years allows the respective indications to be listed and the complications to be studied in 72 insertions involving 62 cases suitable for analysis. The prosthesis is a total intermediary prosthesis forming an unsealed cupula composed of 2 halves--a mandibular portion and a temporal portion. Insertion of the prosthesis requires preliminary facial nerve dissection then osteotomy of the mandibular condyle and its subsequent drilling to allow the screwing in of the prosthesis. The prosthesis was used in traumatology, in condylar and high sub-condylar fractures, in the event of failure of functional treatment, in malformation syndromes, in tumors and, finally, in degenerative pathology. 13 prostheses were removed. A study of the probable causes of complications shows a predominance of technical problems related to inaccurate positioning of the prosthesis, in that it was not placed in the axis of the condyle, or that inadequate bicortical support was present. In our opinion, these complications do not question the conception of the prosthesis but rather indicate that it is necessary to perfect the insertion technique while taking advantage of improvements in the prosthesis which are currently under study.