Coaches' Attitudes Toward Campus Board Training in Adolescent Climbers in the United States.

INTRODUCTION: Campus board training in adolescent climbers is controversial. Evidence, albeit limited, suggests this type of training may lead to the development of finger epiphyseal stress fractures. The purpose of the present study was to investigate coaches' attitudes toward campus board training in the United States. METHODS: Surveys were sent to 116 coaches at gyms across the United States with affiliated adolescent climbing teams. Outcomes collected included demographic information, training time, campus board use prevalence, coaches' attitudes toward campus board use, and willingness to participate in future research. RESULTS: Seventy-three coaches representing 3090 adolescent climbers completed the survey. Forty-six coaches (63%) reported using full weight (no foot contact) campus board training in some or all of their climbers. A variety of factors were cited by coaches when deciding which climbers should or should not use the campus board, including physical maturity, climbing ability, and age, among others. CONCLUSIONS: Climbing coaches in the United States disagree on the use of campus board training in adolescent climbers. Some coaches avoid using this training modality entirely, whereas others believe certain climbers can use it safely. There is lack of consensus in determining who those certain climbers are.

Wide Morphologic Variability of Chromoblastomycosis in the Western Hemisphere.

Chromomycosis is an uncommon fungal disease seen in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The disorder is most likely the result of traumatic percutaneous inoculation of one of several etiologic dematiaceous fungi. Causative organisms have been associated with dead wood, soil, and plants. Chromomycosis may present clinically in a wide variety of manners. We illustrate the characteristic morphologic appearances of mycosis as it was encountered in both Panama and Texas, including verrucous papules and nodules, scaly plaques, exophytic or ulcerative tumor-like masses, and cicatricial plaques of both small and large dimension. As is typical of this disease, all lesions in this series were located on the extremities, and all patients had frequent and intimate exposure to vegetation in hot, humid environments. Chromomycosis characteristically runs an indolent course and is rarely fatal. The patients described herein had experienced cutaneous lesions for many months to several decades prior to diagnosis. This mycosis is often difficult to treat. Successful therapy may involve one or more oral antifungal drugs (such as itraconazole and terbinafine) and/or use of physically ablative modalities (such as laser, photodynamic therapy, and cryosurgery).