A consecutive series of 93 patients had homograft.aortic valve replacement at Green Lane Hospital over a six-month period. Except for 12 assessed at one or two months, the 85 survivors were examined at three months and the clinical degree of aortic incompetence was recorded. Thirty-four of the patients did not proceed to aortography for reasons unrelated to the state of the homograft valve. Fif...

BACKGROUND The use of anti-allergic mattress covers in patients with asthma can result in a large reduction in the level of house dust mite allergen in dust samples. Apart from a reduction in histamine induced bronchial hyperresponsiveness, there are few data on the effect of mattress covers on clinical efficacy and quality of life in patients with moderate to severe asthma. METHODS Thirty pa...

BACKGROUND The ambulance milieu does not offer good thermal comfort to patients during the cold Swedish winters. Patients' exposure to cold temperatures combined with a cold ambulance mattress seems to be the major factor leading to an overall sensation of discomfort. There is little research on the effect of active heat delivered from underneath in ambulance care. Therefore, the aim of this st...

AIM The aim of this pilot study was to better inform clinical decisions to prevent pediatric occipital pressure ulcers with quantitative data to choose an appropriate reactive support surface. MATERIALS A commercially available capacitive pressure mapping system (XSENSOR, X3 Medical Seat System, Calgary, Canada) was used to evaluate a standard pediatric mattress and four commercially availabl...

BACKGROUND The increase in prevalence of asthma and atopic diseases in Western countries has been linked to aspects of microbial exposure patterns of people. It remains unclear which microbial aspects contribute to the protective farm effect. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to identify bacterial groups associated with prevalence of asthma and atopy, and to quantify indoor exposure t...

BACKGROUND House dust mites have been considered the most important source of allergens for humans. These allergens have been encountered at different indoor sites, mainly on mattresses and pillows. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the number and different specimens of mites on Brazilian bunk-bed mattresses. METHODS Dust samples were collected once using a standardized method on the upper mattress sur...

INTRODUCTION An auricular hematoma is a commonly encountered clinical condition. A number of treatment options for auricular hematomas have been suggested, but a continuing controversy exists regarding the most effective therapy. Auricular hematomas are a consequence of the relatively unique histological features of auricle damage and the unusual pathophysiology of the lesion. In experimental s...

Jost I. BARRAQUER MONER (1957) has described in detail many possible variations of buried sutures in the section for cataract extractions, and another was mentioned by Joaquin Barraquer Moner (1956). These have numerous advantages, especially reduced post-operative discomfort. The modification to be described seems to produce better apposition of the edges of the wound, and places the knot behi...