Thanaka: traditional Burmese sun protection.

Limonia acidissima or Hesperethusa crenulata is a common tree in Southeast Asia. It is indigenous to the Republic of Myanmar (formerly Burma) as well as India, Sri Lanka, Java, and Pakistan. In English, the common names for Limonia acidissima are sandalwood, wood-apple, elephant-apple, monkey fruit, and curd fruit tree. The plant has a number of different names in different languages including bal or bael in Assamese, bael in Bengali, kaitha in Hindi, belingai in Malaysia, and thanaka in Burmese. Unique to the Burmese people, thanaka has been used as a cosmetic product for over 2000 years. Mention of thanaka has been traced back to ancient Burmese lyrics, and relics of equipment used by ancient royalty to grind thanaka can be found in museums.

VISIA system: a possible tool in the cosmetic practice.

BACKGROUND: Dyspigmentation is a common complaint in the dermatology office. OBJECTIVE: We also sought to evaluate whether the VISIA Complexion Analysis System (Canfield Imaging Systems, Fairfield, NJ) could be a tool to help patients better understand their skin complaints. METHODS: Twenty-one consecutive women were recruited for VISIA analysis. Each subject underwent VISIA analysis and completed a follow up survey. RESULTS: 86% of respondents reported that the VISIA analysis helped them understand their initial concern. 86% noted that the VISIA brought other skin problems to their attention. 100% of the subjects responded that they would recommend VISIA analysis to others. 62% of subjects responded that they would prefer to go to a practice with a VISIA system in comparison to a practice without VISIA. CONCLUSION: The VISIA Complexion Analysis System is a beneficial tool for dermatology and aesthetic practices with the potential to aid in patient education.

A comparison of super wide field microscopy systems in mohs surgery.

Microscopic frozen section interpretation is one of the cornerstones of Mohs surgery. The recent development of super wide field (SWF) microscopy can improve accuracy and efficiency while reading microscope sections, and also decrease the physician's musculoskeletal and ocular strain. Super wide field microscopy systems increase viewable field area (VA) by combining low magnification objectives, eg, 1x or 2x (Figure 1), with eyepieces that have a higher field number. This article reviews 3 SWF microscopy systems: Leica DM2000 (Leica Microsystems, Wetzlar, Germany), Nikon Eclipse Ni (Nikon Instruments Inc., Melville, NY), and Olympus BX43 (Olympus, Center Valley, PA). The Leica DM2000's 1.25x objective results in a VA of 314.16 mm2. The Nikon Eclipse Ni's 1x objective results in a VA of 490.87 mm2. The Olympus BX43's 1.25x objective results in a VA of 352.99 mm2. The maximum VA at the lowest objective for Nikon is nearly 40% greater than for the Olympus and over 50% greater than for the Leica. The Nikon Eclipse Ni has a significantly higher maximum VA than the other 2 systems.

The management of antithrombotic medication in skin surgery.

BACKGROUND: Approximately one in four patients undergoing dermatologic surgery takes an antithrombotic medication. When approaching the management of antithrombotic agents, procedural dermatologists must balance surgical outcomes, bleeding risks, and cardiovascular protection. Continuing antithrombotics during surgery increases the risk hemorrhage, but discontinuation of these agents may increase the risk of thrombotic events. Despite increasing evidence for continuation of antithrombotics during dermatologic surgery, few official guidelines exist, and clinicians have been slow to integrate new evidence into clinical practice. A study in 2007 reported that more than 40% of dermatologic surgeons sometimes discontinue warfarin for surgery. OBJECTIVE: This article reviews antithrombotic agents in the United States and summarize perioperative management recommendations of antithrombotic agents in skin surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A review of the literature was performed focused on antithrombotic medications commercially available in the United States, including the two newest agents, dabigatran and rivaroxaban. CONCLUSION: Although there are concerns regarding bleeding, there are no reports of life-threatening hemorrhage from continued antithrombotic therapy in dermatologic surgery. Furthermore, potentially fatal cardiovascular events after cessation of medically indicated antithrombotic medications are increasingly recognized, leading to the growing acceptance that the risk of stopping most antithrombotics may outweigh the risks of bleeding incurred by continuing antithrombotic therapy.

Living related donor nephrectomy in transfusion refusing donors.

Many transplant programs are averse to evaluate potential kidney donors with preferences against accepting human blood products. We examined the donor and graft outcomes between our transfusion-consenting (TC) and transfusion-refusing (TR) live kidney donors to determine whether a functional or survival disadvantage resulted from the disallowance of blood product transfusion during live donor (LD) nephrectomy. From July, 1999 to August, 2005, 82 live donor nephrectomies were performed, eight of who were TR donors (10%). Blood conservation techniques were utilized in TR donors. Demographics, surgical and functional outcomes, admission and discharge hematocrit, and creatinine were compared between TC and TR donors. No donor mortalities occurred. Two TC donors received blood transfusions (2.7%), and each study group experienced a single, <1-year graft loss. Intra-operative blood losses were significantly less in TR donors (298 +/- 412 vs. 121 +/- 91 ml, P < 0.03). No differences were noted between donor demographics, intra-operative events, and graft and patient survival. Successful donor nephrectomy from TR patients has the potential to expand the kidney allograft pool to include the TR donor population. Precautionary blood conservation methods allow the informed and consenting TR individual to donate a kidney with acceptable risk and without compromise to donor or graft outcomes.