An unusual presentation of bilateral prominent ears.

Patients with bilateral prominent ears commonly present for surgical correction. The cause of this condition is probably multifactorial and, whilst there is certainly a strong familial component, pathological causes are few. We present a case of bilateral postauricular dermoid cysts giving rise to this condition.

Biomechanical characterization of tissues in Dupuytren's disease.

The aim of this study was to characterize mechanical properties of tissues of Dupuytren's disease and to attempt to identify changes due to cellular activity. Tensile tests confirmed the heterogeneity of Dupuytren's disease tissue with distinct stress-strain curves for the three tissue types normally present, namely, cord, transition zone and nodule. The tensile strength for cord tissue was nearly twice that of nodule tissue, but the latter was nearly twice as stretchable as cord. In contrast, the transition tissue had the tensile strength of cord with the stretchability of nodule. It was found that tensile loading stimulated a cellular response as demonstrated by an increase in the creep strain rate of the tissue at 37 degrees C compared with that at 4 degrees C using Dupuytren's tissue in an in vitro culture test. The creep strain rate for nodule at 37 degrees C was more than seven times that for cord at a nominal creep stress of 0.75 MPa.

Eye injuries caused by elasticated "octopus" straps.

"Octopus" elasticated straps are a common cause of severe accidental eye injuries, which we believe are largely preventable. In a retrospective study (January 1990 to August 1996), we identified 42 patients with such injuries severe enough to warrant admission to hospital. The injuries included hyphaema, vitreous haemorrhage, retinal detachment, and choroid and globe rupture, with 28% (12/42) of the injuries resulting in permanent visual loss. We believe octopus straps should not be available for sale in their current form.