Necrotizing fasciitis is an overwhelming infection common to the perineum, abdominal wall, and extremities. It is a surgical emergency related to a high mortality rate that is more often seen in elderly and immunocompromised patients. Necrotizing fasciitis occurs uncommonly in the head and neck region. Over a 12-year period, 47 cases of necrotizing fasciitis of the head and neck region were collected at this hospital. The demographics, predisposing factors, clinical presentation and courses, management, complications, and outcomes were analyzed. The cases were divided into two groups: survivors and nonsurvivors. Statistical comparisons were made of the parameters age, gender, smoking or drinking habit, underlying medical problems, laboratory data, and treatments used. Forty-two patients (89.4 percent) had associated systemic disease; most of these patients had diabetes (72.3 percent). The clinical manifestations are nonspecific but are often typical for diagnosis. The necessity of computed tomographic scans is not conclusive in this study. Presentation of septic shock (p = 0.004) and association with underlying malignancy (p = 0.03) were the only statistically significant factors that led to a poor prognosis. The cornerstones of proper management include early diagnosis, aggressive surgical debridement, broad-spectrum antibiotics, and intensive supportive care.

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Due to poor vessel quality in patients with cardiovascular diseases, there has been an increased demand for small-diameter tissue-engineered blood vessels that can be used as replacement grafts in bypass surgery. Decellularization techniques to minimize cellular inflammation have been applied in tissue engineering research for the development of small-diameter vascular grafts. The biocompatibility of allogenic or xenogenic decellularized matrices has been evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Both short-term and long-term preclinical studies are crucial for evaluation of the in vivo performance of decellularized vascular grafts. This review offers insight into the various preclinical studies that have been performed using decellularized vascular grafts. Different strategies, such as surface-modified, recellularized, or hybrid vascular grafts, used to improve neoendothelialization and vascular wall remodeling, are also highlighted. This review provides information on the current status and the future development of decellularized vascular grafts.

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Glutathione plays an important role in the antioxidant system that is required for the maintenance of the redox status of the cell, defence against free radicals and detoxification of toxic compounds. Reduced glutathione (redGSH) can be converted to oxidized glutathione (GSSG) during oxidative stress. The ratio of redGSH/total glutathione can be regarded as an index of the redox status and a useful indicator of disease risks. We conducted experiments by the capillary zone electrophoresis method to investigate the alterations of the glutathione status in the blood and tissue samples from patients with breast cancer. The results showed that the levels of redGSH, GSSG, total glutathione and the ratio of redGSH/total glutathione were significantly decreased in the blood of the patients with breast cancer compared to those of the control subjects. The levels of various forms of glutathione were lower and more pronounced in stage III. In contrast, the levels of redGSH, GSSG, total glutathione and the redGSH/total glutathione ratio in breast cancer tissues were significantly increased relative to those of the adjacent cancer-free tissues, especially in stage II. We suggest that the high redGSH levels are associated with the enhancement of cell proliferation and resistance to apoptosis in the cancer cells, and the loss of the large amount of erythrocyte redGSH may be due to increased detoxification capacities and defence against oxidative stress. We propose that redGSH should be regarded as an important biochemical parameter for detecting breast malignancy.

Our findings demonstrate that higher VLDL-C and lower apoA-I values were significantly associated with breast cancer, with a greater association between apoA-I values and the development of breast cancer than for HDL-C values.

Axillary osmidrosis is an annoying, although not life-threatening, problem that includes unpleasant odor and the occasional staining of clothing. Suction-assisted lipectomy has been tested as a treatment for axillary osmidrosis with variable success. The authors retrospectively reviewed 134 patients who underwent superficial liposuction for bilateral axillary osmidrosis in their division between June of 1998 and June of 2002. The surgical complications and results were compared with those reported in their previous report of 343 patients (102 available for postoperative result evaluation) who received open surgical treatment with partial excision of axillary skin and subcutaneous tissue. The overall complication rate was 3.73 percent, significantly lower than the 11.08 percent complication rate seen with open surgical treatment. Of their 134 patients, 114 were available for long-term follow-up. Thirteen patients (11.40 percent) had very good results, 79 patients (69.30 percent) had good results, and 22 patients (19.30 percent) had poor results. Significant differences were found between those who underwent superficial liposuction and those who underwent open surgery. The number of patients with very good and good results decreased significantly from 91.18 percent (open surgery) to 80.70 percent (liposuction), and those with little or no improvement increased from 8.82 percent (open surgery) to 19.29 percent (liposuction). Compared with open surgery for the treatment of osmidrosis, liposuction produces significantly fewer complications but is less effective. Of the patients who underwent liposuction for osmidrosis, 80 percent were satisfied with the result. Further study is needed to determine whether liposuction for osmidrosis can be improved.

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