Polyethylene implants in nasal septal restoration.

IMPORTANCE: Numerous techniques have been described to repair nasal septal perforations (SPs). However, many are technically challenging, with varying degrees of success. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of polyethylene (Medpor; Porex Technologies) implants in the closure of nasal SPs. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective cohort study in an academic research setting. PARTICIPANTS: Fourteen patients with a nasal SP were identified between March 1, 2008, and February 1, 2011. INTERVENTION: Each patient underwent repair of the nasal SP with a polyethylene orbital sheet implant. After measuring the size of the SP, the implant was trimmed and shaped to fit appropriately. The implant was then placed between bilateral mucoperichondrial flaps using an endonasal approach. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURE: Successful closure of the nasal SP with an intact polyethylene graft and complete remucosalization by the 1-year follow-up visit. RESULTS: The most common initial symptoms of SPs were nasal obstruction, crusting, and epistaxis. The SPs ranged from 0.5 to 4.0 cm in diameter. Thirteen of 14 patients (93%) who underwent repair of their nasal SPs with a polyethylene implant had successful closure. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: The use of polyethylene implants is effective and technically easy and is associated with low patient morbidity because it does not require the harvesting of tissue from other donor sites. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4.

Proteome resolution by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis varies with the commercial source of IPG strips.

By facilitating reproducible first dimension separations, commercial immobilized pH gradient (IPG) strips enable high throughput and high-resolution proteomic analyses using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE). Amersham, Biorad, Invitrogen, and Sigma all market linear pH 3-10 IPG strips. We have applied optimized 2DE protocols with both membrane and soluble brain protein extracts to critically evaluate all four products. Resolved protein spots were quantitatively evaluated after carrying out these protocols using IPG strips from the four companies. Biorad and Amersham IPG strips resolved a high number of membrane and soluble proteins, respectively. Furthermore, Amersham IPG strips eluted the largest amount of protein into the second dimension gels and had the most protein remaining in the strip after 2DE. Biorad and Amersham IPG strips maintained a consistent linear pH 3-10 gradient, whereas those from Invitrogen appeared nonlinear or "compressed" within the central pH region. The gradient range within Sigma IPG strips appeared to be slightly less than pH 3-10, due to one extended pH unit within the gradient. Overall, all four commercially available IPG strips have the ability to resolve both membrane and soluble brain proteomes. The difference is that Amersham and Biorad do so more consistently and with better spot resolution. It appears that the physical/chemical nature of commercially available IPG strips can vary considerably, leading to marked differences in subsequent protein resolution in 2DE. These differences likely reflect variations in the uptake of proteins into the strips, and differences in the focusing and elution of proteins from the first to the second dimension. These differences would appear, in part, to underlie some inter-lab variations in the effective resolution of proteomes.