The contributions of Alexis Carrel to the management of contaminated wounds.

Wound care through the ages has ranged from good to bad, and at times has been disgusting, with little scientific approach. von Eiselsberg's dictum of no touch for military wounds proved disastrous to patients with gunshot and shrapnel wounds in the First World War. Alexis Carrel, a brilliant experimental surgeon, spearheaded the research that led to the development and application of débridement and irrigation for combat wounds. Early in his career, Carrel reported on a miraculous cure that he had observed in Lourdes, France. However, this report resulted in a strained professional environment in his homeland of France, which persisted in spite of his subsequent moves to Canada and then to the United States. There he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.

The use of procaine in acquired malignant hyperthermia in a patient with malignant melanoma metastatic to the parathyroid gland: a case report.

The use of intravenous procaine in the treatment of hyperpyrexia in a patient with hyperparathyroidism has not been previously reported. A case of metastatic malignant melanoma precipitating the syndrome of hypertonicity of muscle, hyperpyrexia, acidemia, hypercalcemia and elevated serum parathormone levels is presented. Mithramycin was used in an attempt to reduce elevated serum calcium concentrations. The use of intravenous procaine in "caffeine rigor" and malignant hyperthermia due to succinylcholine and halothane formed the basis for its trial in this case. The relationship between cyclic AMP and calcium ions is discussed in postulating mechanism of procaine action.