The role of split-thickness skin grafting in the treatment of vasculitic and pyoderma gangrenosum ulcers in a multidisciplinary wound centre.

Vasculitic and pyoderma gangrenosum ulcers are traditionally treated with immunosuppressants, and the role of surgery in the treatment of these atypical ulcers remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the need for surgical intervention as well as the outcome and safety of skin grafting in the treatment of 46 patients with vasculitic ulcers and 34 with pyoderma gangrenosum ulcers using data recorded in the validated Wound Registry. Of the 80 patients with atypical ulcers, 14% (n = 11) were treated surgically; these patients were older (p = 0.039), had lower mobility status (p = 0.002), and more often pulmonary diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, and previous arterial procedures (p = 0.007; p = 0.031; p = 0.031, respectively) than those treated conservatively. Of 181 ulcers, 15% (n = 27) were surgically treated, 78% once and 22% multiple times. During follow-up, 92.3% of both surgically and conservatively treated ulcers with available data healed. Of the surgically treated ulcers, median healing time after first surgical procedure was 96 days, and post-surgical complications were considered mild or unrelated to surgery. Our results suggest that if surgery is indicated, skin grafting is a safe and efficient treatment method provided that multidisciplinary approach is applied.

Quality registry improves the data of chronic ulcers: Validation of Tampere Wound Registry.

Quality registries are potential tools for improving health care documentation, but the quality and completeness of each registry should be ensured. This study aimed to evaluate the completion rate (completeness) and accuracy of data, first contact-to-registration time (timeliness), and case coverage of the Tampere Wound Registry (TWR) to assess whether it can be reliably used in clinical practice and for research purposes. Data from all 923 patients registered in the TWR between 5 June 2018 and 31 December 2020 were included in the analysis of data completeness, while data accuracy, timeliness and case coverage were analysed in those registered during the year 2020. In all analyses values over 80% were considered good and values over 90% excellent. The study showed that the overall completeness of the TWR was 81% and overall accuracy was 93%. Timeliness achieved 86% within the first 24 h, and case coverage was found to be 91%. When completion of seven selected variables was compared between TWR and patient medical records, the TWR was found to be more complete in five out of seven variables. In conclusion, the TWR proved to be a reliable tool for health care documentation and an even more reliable data source than patient medical records.

Long-term Mortality among Patients with Chronic Ulcers.

Chronic ulcers cause a significant burden to patients and society. This study evaluated long-term mortality among patients with chronic ulcers diagnosed at a dermatology clinic between 1980 and 2010. The mortality risk and causes of death of 3,489 patients with ulcers were compared with a matched reference group of 10,399 individuals, and factors associated with increased mortality risk were examined. Long-term mortality was increased in patients with chronic ulcers (hazard ratio (HR) 1.74) and in both males and females (HR 1.99 and 1.62, respectively). Diabetes was the most relevant underlying cause of death (HR 8.98), and of the immediate causes of death, sepsis was strongly associated with mortality (HR 5.86). The mortality risk was highest among those with arterial ulcers (HR 2.85), but also increased in patients with atypical, mixed and venous leg ulcers. In conclusion, patients with chronic ulcers are at an increased mortality risk irrespective of age, sex and ulcer aetiology.

Soluble adhesion molecules in young children with signs of beta-cell autoimmunity--prospective follow-up from birth.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed at evaluating the relationship between the circulating concentrations of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and sL-selectin and the appearance of beta-cell autoimmunity, and at assessing whether these molecules could assist in the identification of environmental factors implicated in the immune process damaging the pancreatic beta-cells. METHODS: Serum levels of soluble adhesion molecules were measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays over the first 2 years of life in 65 children seroconverting to positivity for autoantibodies and 65 control children, all with HLA-conferred susceptibility to type 1 diabetes (T1D). RESULTS: The total integrated concentrations of soluble adhesion molecules were comparable between the two groups. The autoantibody-positive children tended to have higher sL-selectin concentrations during the 3-month seroconversion (SC) period than did the control children during the corresponding period (P = 0.07), the difference being significant (P = 0.03) after excluding subjects with signs of a concurrent enterovirus infection. Autoantibody-positive children had higher concentrations of sL-selectin in the 3-month period when an enterovirus infection was detectable than did the control children (P = 0.018). No significant difference could, however, be seen after excluding the children with concomitant seroconversion to autoantibody positivity. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated concentrations of sL-selectin are temporally associated with seroconversion to autoantibody positivity suggesting that leukocyte activation might coincide with the appearance of beta-cell autoimmunity. Early-onset progressive beta-cell autoimmunity, on the other hand, is not reflected in overall increased concentrations of soluble adhesion molecules in the peripheral circulation during the first 2 years of life in children carrying increased HLA-conferred disease susceptibility. Enterovirus infections (EVIs) are not independently associated with increased circulating sL-selectin concentrations in young children with enhanced HLA-conferred susceptibility to T1D.

Insulin autoantibody isotypes during the prediabetic process in young children with increased genetic risk of type 1 diabetes.

This work aimed to assess the maturation of the humoral immune response to insulin in preclinical type 1 diabetes by observing the emergence of various isotypes of insulin autoantibodies (IAA) in children with HLA-DQB1-conferred disease susceptibility. The series was derived from the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention Study and comprised 15 IAA-positive children who presented with type 1 diabetes during prospective observation (progressors) and 30 children who remained nondiabetic (nonprogressors). An isotype-specific radiobinding assay was used to determine isotype-specific IAA (IgG1-4 and IgA) from samples obtained with an interval of 3-12 mo. The progressors had IAA of subclass IgG3 in their first IAA-positive sample more often than did the nonprogressors (13 of 15 versus 12 of 30; p = 0.003). Nine progressors had a dominant IgG1-IAA response initially, and six had a dominant IgG3-IAA response. The corresponding distribution among the nonprogressors was that 20 had a dominant IgG1-IAA response, none had an IgG3-IAA response, and three had a dominant response other than IgG1- or IgG3-IAA (chi(2)(df = 2) = 12.02; p = 0.002). The progressors had higher integrated levels (area under the curve) of IgG1-IAA (p = 0.05) and IgG3-IAA (p = 0.002). Nine progressors had a dominant integrated IgG1-IAA response and six had a dominant IgG3-IAA response over the observation period, whereas 22 nonprogressors had a dominant IgG1-IAA response, six had a dominant IgG2-IAA response, and one an IgG3-IAA response (chi(2)(df = 2) = 11.23; p = 0.004). Genetically susceptible young children who progress rapidly to clinical type 1 diabetes are characterized by strong IgG1 and IgG3 responses to insulin, whereas a weak or absent IgG3 response is associated with relative protection from disease.

Genetic risk determines the emergence of diabetes-associated autoantibodies in young children.

Timing of onset of autoimmunity is a prerequisite for unmasking triggers and pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. We followed 4,590 consecutive newborns with 8 or 3% HLA-DQB1 conferred risk for type 1 diabetes at 3-, 6-, or 12-month intervals up to 5.5 years of age. Islet cell autoantibodies (ICAs) and, in the 137 children with ICAs, insulin autoantibodies (IAAs), GAD65 autoantibodies (GADAs), and IA-2 protein autoantibodies (IA-2As) were measured. Children with high genetic risk developed ICAs more often than those with moderate risk (log-rank P = 0.0015); 85 and 91% remained ICA negative by 5 years of age, respectively. The time of appearance of biochemical autoantibodies was then compared with the appearance of ICAs. IAAs and GADAs emerged usually before ICAs (means -1.8 and -1.5 months, respectively) and IA-2As after ICAs (mean 2.0 months). Ninety-five percent of all IAAs, GADAs, and IA-2As seroconversions occurred in a cluster (-12 to 8 months) around the ICA seroconversion. We conclude that diabetes-associated autoantibodies emerged in children with predisposing HLA-DQB1 alleles after 3 months of age at a constant tempo, determined by the genetic risk level, usually in the order of IAA, GADA, ICA, and IA-2A. Seroconversion to multiple autoantibody positivity usually occurred tightly clustered in time.