ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Silicone gel dressings decrease scar volume and soften hypertrophic tissue, allowing it to be more easily controlled by other methods. Although silicone does not appear to be an essential component of the treatment, nonsilicone dressings have been reported to cause no change in physical parameters during a 2-month treatment period. OBJECTIVE: To compare silicone and nonsilicone gel dressings in the treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars, including a control group, and to evaluate the effectiveness of these treatments using two new assessment techniques. METHODS: Patients were randomly chosen to receive silicone or nonsilicone gel dressings in a 4.5-month controlled prospective study. Scar size, induration, and symptoms were evaluated before and after the treatment. Scar color was visually measured using a color palette catalog, and a new device was developed to measure intracicatricial pressure. RESULTS: All of the measured parameters were significantly reduced in both silicone- and nonsilicone-treated groups, as compared to the control, with no significant differences between them. CONCLUSION: Silicone and nonsilicone gel dressings are equally effective in the treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars.
Subject(s)
Bandages , Cicatrix/therapy , Silicone Gels , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Cicatrix/pathology , Cicatrix, Hypertrophic/therapy , Female , Humans , Infant , Keloid/therapy , MaleABSTRACT
Craniometaphyseal dysplasia (CMD) is a rare skeletal disorder characterized by progressive thickening and increased mineral density of craniofacial bones and abnormally developed metaphyses in long bones. Linkage studies mapped the locus for the autosomal dominant form of CMD to an approximately 5-cM interval on chromosome 5p, which is defined by recombinations between loci D5S810 and D5S1954. Mutational analysis of positional candidate genes was performed, and we describe herein three different mutations, in five different families and in isolated cases, in ANK, a multipass transmembrane protein involved in the transport of intracellular pyrophosphate into extracellular matrix. The mutations are two in-frame deletions and one in-frame insertion caused by a splicing defect. All mutations cluster within seven amino acids in one of the six possible cytosolic domains of ANK. These results suggest that the mutated protein has a dominant negative effect on the function of ANK, since reduced levels of pyrophosphate in bone matrix are known to increase mineralization.
Subject(s)
Bone Diseases, Developmental/genetics , Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5/genetics , Genes, Dominant/genetics , Genetic Linkage/genetics , Membrane Proteins/genetics , Mutation/genetics , Amino Acid Sequence , Base Sequence , Cells, Cultured , Child , Child, Preschool , Cytosol/chemistry , DNA Mutational Analysis , Exons/genetics , Female , Humans , Lod Score , Male , Membrane Proteins/chemistry , Molecular Sequence Data , Osteoblasts/metabolism , Pedigree , Phosphate Transport Proteins , Protein Structure, Tertiary , RNA, Messenger/analysis , RNA, Messenger/geneticsABSTRACT
Cherubism is an autosomal dominant disorder that may be related to tooth development and eruption. It is a disorder of age-related bone remodeling, mostly limited to the maxilla and the mandible, with loss of bone in the jaws and its replacement with large amounts of fibrous tissue. We have used a genomewide search with a three-generation family and have established linkage to chromosome 4p16. Three other families affected with cherubism were also genotyped and were mapped to the same locus. The combined LOD score is 4.21 at a recombination fraction of 0, and the locus spans an interval of approximately 22 cM.
Subject(s)
Cherubism/genetics , Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4 , Adolescent , Adult , Cherubism/diagnosis , Cherubism/diagnostic imaging , Child , Chromosome Mapping , Female , Genetic Markers , Genotype , Humans , Lod Score , Male , Mandible/diagnostic imaging , Maxilla/anatomy & histology , Maxilla/diagnostic imaging , Middle Aged , Pedigree , RadiographyABSTRACT
Wistar rats were used to study the effects, if any, of membrane thickness and implant volume of a silicone gel prosthesis on the development of fibrous capsule contraction. A total of 30 miniprosthesis with three different membrane thicknesses and two different volumes were implanted in the subcutaneous space of five animals. One hundred eighty days later the fibrous capsule was resected and histologically analyzed. Different grades of thickness were observed. The statistical analysis of the data indicates that the thickness of the prosthesis' membrane and the implant's volume did not impact significantly on the grade of fibrosis.
Subject(s)
Contracture/etiology , Prostheses and Implants/adverse effects , Animals , Female , Fibrosis , Mammary Glands, Animal/pathology , Mammary Glands, Animal/surgery , Rats , Rats, Inbred Strains , Silicone ElastomersABSTRACT
We conducted a study of 63 couples and their 242 normal children from northeastern Brazil (no facial malformations or deformities) to evaluate the heritability of 4 quantitative traits of the orbital region adjusted by covariance for sex, age, (age)2, sex x age, and sex x (age)2. The heritability is estimated as 0.514 for the mean horizontal diameter of the palpebral fissures, 0.454 for the interpupillary distance, 0.390 for the internal intercanthal distance, and 0.337 for the external intercanthal distance. The heritability of the first principal component of the orbital region is estimated as 0.418.
