Enoxaparin for the treatment of recurrent aphthous stomatitis: a pilot exploratory clinical trial.

AIM: Low molecular weight derivatives of heparin have been recently suggested for the treatment of different diseases including oral lichen planus (OLP) due to their effectiveness and limited side effects. However, no studies have concerned the effectiveness of these agents in the treatment of recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). The present study then aimed to assess this effectiveness in vivo. METHODS: Included were 30 RAS patients consecutively referred to our centers without any systemic diseases. The ulcers were examined in terms of size and number. Recurrence intervals were recorded by the patients. 1 U/0.002 mL enoxaparin was injected subcutaneously (3 mg). Injections were repeated once a week for 8 weeks. The patients were followed monthly for three months. To determine the level of pain, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) from 0 to 10 was used. The data were statistically analyzed to determine the difference between the number, size, and pain using Wilcoxon test. RESULTS: It was shown that 8-stage injection of enoxaparin is associated with significantly reduced number, size, recurrence intervals, and the intensity and duration of pain of the lesions in 21 males (70%) and 9 females (30%) of the present study. CONCLUSION: According to the limitations of the present study, systemic Enoxaparin seems successful in reducing the number, size, recurrence frequency and the duration of pain and discomfort in RAS patients without significant side effects.

Concept and evaluation of an endaurally insertable middle-ear implant.

A concept for a partially implantable hearing device, for which the power supply and signal transmission are provided by an optical transmission path, is evaluated. The actuator is designed to fit into the round-window niche and to couple directly to the round-window membrane. Implantable hearing aids can be a suitable solution in the case of severe hearing loss, where conventional hearing aids often fail. However, the surgical effort for an implantation is comparatively high. Therefore, the objective of our work was to provide a hearing system which combines reliable coupling to the auditory system with an easy implantation technique. The actuator was designed as a piezoelectric thin-film cantilever. The optical transmission path was realised using an infrared light-emitting diode combined with an active receiver circuit. For a voltage of 1V, the unloaded actuator presents displacement amplitudes of 1µm up to a stimulus frequency of 25kHz and forces up to 0.2mN. Proportionally larger forces can be achieved by stacking single actuators. The overall transmission loss from the electrical input of the light-emitting diode driver to the mechanical output of the unloaded actuator was less than 25dB at 1kHz and maximum output.

Treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis with either topical paromomycin or intralesional meglumine antimoniate.

Ninety-six patients with a clinical and parasitological diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis were recruited to a comparative randomized clinical trial evaluating the efficacy of topical paromomycin vs. weekly intralesional injections of meglumine antimoniate. The patients were randomly divided into two treatment groups: one group was treated with topical paromomycin ointment and the other with intralesional meglumine antimoniate. Treatment was continued in both groups until complete recovery occurred (defined as healing in less than 2 months with no residual scar or relapse for up to 1 year post treatment). Treatment failure was defined as an increase in the number and size of pre-existing lesions or untoward side-effects. The maximum treatment period was 3 months. The patients were followed up for 1 year. The results showed that intralesional meglumine antimoniate led to 41.7% complete recovery, However, topical paromomycin gave a lower cure rate of 16.6% (P < 0.05). Treatment failure was observed in 39.7% of the group receiving intralesional meglumine and in 72.9% of those on topical paromomycin (P < 0.05). This study indicates that intralesional meglumine antimoniate is superior to topical paromomycin in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.