The Keio journal of medicine
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of pollen of saffron extract cream in the treatment of thermal induced burn wounds and to compare its results with silver sulfadiazine (SSD) in rats. Animals were divided into four groups and administrated a topical cream including control, base, saffron (20%) or SSD (1%) at 24 hour after a burn injury that was induced by hot water. In special days, according to a pre-planned schedule, animal's weight, wound size, as well as skin histo-pathology were determined in different groups under topical treatments. ⋯ Histological comparison has shown that saffron significantly increased re-epithelialization in burn wounds, as compared to other cream-treated wounds. Although the exact mechanism of saffron is unclear, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of saffron may have contributed to the wound healing. The results of this study raise the possibility of potential efficacy of saffron in accelerating wound healing in burn injuries.
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Review Comparative Study
Comparison of PET and DW/PW-MRI in acute ischemic stroke.
The penumbra--tissue perfused below the flow threshold for functional disturbance but above that for maintenance of morphological integrity--is the target for therapy in acute ischemic stroke. Irreversible tissue damage and penumbra can be reliably identified by multitracer positron emission tomography (PET) which has severe limitations due to complexity, invasiveness and radiation exposure. Therefore other modalities served as surrogate markers, with diffusion/perfusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW/PW-MRI) and perfusion computed tomography (PCT) being applied widely in clinical routine. ⋯ PW-MRI was limited in estimating flow and yielded values comparable to H2(15)O-PET only in the range between 20 and 30 ml/100 g/min. The DW/PW-MRI mismatch overestimated the penumbra as determined by increased OEF. These limitations of DW/PW-MRI have to be considered if used for selection of patients for treatment and might have an impact on the outcome of clinical trials based on this surrogate marker.
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Peroneal neuropathy is one of the common focal mononeuropathies in the lower extremities occurring in both adults and children. Foot drop due to weakness of ankle dorsiflexion is the most common presentation of a peroneal neuropathy. It may also result from other causes involving the upper or lower motor neurons. ⋯ In this article, we overviewed the peroneal nerve palsy, and its diagnosis by neurophysiologic evaluation, conduction study and needle EMG. The neurophysiologic information gives us the underlying pathophysiology and its prognosis. Therefore the neurophysiologic evaluation must be performed not only for the differential diagnosis, but also for planning the treatment strategy.
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The Meiji Jingu Baseball Stadium attracts a large number of spectators in the Tokyo metropolitan area. To clarify the demand for medical care at a public ballpark, we analyzed following two types of medical records maintained at the stadium: (1) "Report of Aid": a record of patients visiting the first-aid station in 2003 season and (2) "Report of Accidents": a record of patients referred to clinics/hospitals between 1996 and 2003 season. (1) In 2003, approximately 1,582,000 spectators watched 67 professional baseball games (60 night games). Of the 247 spectators received medical care at the first-aid station (3.7 persons per game, 1/6,405 spectators), 128 (51.8%) had trauma and 109 (44.1%) had illness. ⋯ Trauma due to direct ball injury accounted for the largest number of wounded patients referred to clinics/hospitals. Treatment to patients at the first-aid station in the stadium may optimize the frequency of hospital visits. Records of medical care are effective to analyze the demand for medical preparedness.
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Acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are common, life-threatening causes of acute respiratory failure that arise from a variety of local and systemic insults. The need for new specific therapies has led a number of investigators to examine the role of altered coagulation and fibrinolysis in the pathogenesis of ALI/ARDS. ⋯ Fibrin deposition in the airspaces and lung microvasculature likely results from both activation of the coagulation cascade and impaired fibrinolysis, triggered by inflammation. Modulation of fibrin deposition in the lung through targeting activation and modulation of coagulation as well as fibrinolysis may be an important therapeutic target in clinical ALI/ARDS that deserves further exploration.