BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The actuarial risk at 5 years for clinical recurrence of Henoch-Schönlein purpura nephritis (HSPN) and graft loss caused by recurrence of -HSPN after renal transplantation was reported in 1994 to be as high as 35% and 11%, respectively. The aim of this study is to re-evaluate, in a large cohort of patients with a long-term follow-up, whether these rates have changed. ...

BACKGROUND As the demand for liver transplantation has become greater than the availability of donor livers, the criteria for donor selection or rejection are more important than ever before. In view of an increasing number of patients on the waiting list, some centres are expanding their donor pool by relaxing the criteria, such as by using organs from elderly (> 60 years) brainstem-dead donor...

Results of gas endarterectomy of the right coronary artery were evaluated in 29 consecutive patients. There were one surgical and two early postsurgical deaths. All three had postmortem examination, and in two there was occlusion of the gas endarterectomy. Five patients did not have repeat catheterization. Twenty-one patients were completely re-evaluated and had repeat cardiac catheterization o...

BACKGROUND In cases of early stage subungual melanoma (SUM), conservative treatment with non-amputative wide excision of the nail unit and subsequent skin graft is preferred over amputation to preserve the involved digit. OBJECTIVE We report a series of patients with SUM treated with conservative surgery and suggest an effective supplementary treatment process. METHODS We retrospectively re...

Grafting is an ancient cloning method that has been used widely for thousands of years in agricultural practices. Graft-union development is also an intricate process that involves substantial changes such as organ regeneration and genetic material exchange. However, the molecular mechanisms for graft-union development are still largely unknown. Here, a micrografting method that has been used w...

BACKGROUND To protect from erosion of the tube in glaucoma drainage device (GDD), the tube is covered by a biologic tissue which is roofed by the conjunctiva. Sclera, pericardium, dura mater and cornea are available as a patch graft. Drawbacks of some of these materials may include high cost and poor appearance. The purpose of this study is to report the long-term outcomes of partial thickness ...

Background: Endoleaks after stent-graft repair of aortic dissections are poorly understood but appear substantially different from those seen after aneurysm repair. We studied anatomical and clinical factors associated with endoleaks in patients who underwent stent-graft repair of complicated type B aortic dissections. Methods and Results: From 2000 to 2007, 37 patients underwent stent-graft re...

H i s t o r i c a l l y, patients with diabetes have expended tremendous eff o rt in pursuing a re t u rn to norm o g l y c e m i a. The relatively recent results of the Diabetes C o n t rol and Complications Trial (DCCT), demonstrating an approximate 50% re d u c-tion in eye, nerve, and kidney complications in a group of patients re c e i v i n g intensive treatment for hyperglycemia (1), have...

OBJECTIVE We aimed to analyse donor and recipient predictors of graft survival in children who received live-donor renal grafts. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study comprised 273 children who received live-donor renal transplants at our center between March 1976 and October 2010. The follow-up ranged from 6 months to 25 years. Donor variables included donor age, gender, donor/recipient body weight...

BACKGROUND Fungal keratitis is basically treated by medications. Several cases of fungal keratitis were reported around the world to have been treated successfully by corneal graft--penetrating keratoplasty (PKP). Studies have shown that PKP is a useful treatment, preserves eye globe integrity, and rehabilitates vision in patients with advanced fungal keratitis. AIM To study the use of penetr...