The purpose of this study was to update our in vitro serum-free keloid fibroblast (KF) model by use of commercially available media. Prior evaluations of fibroblast characteristics in vitro, especially that of growth factor measurement, have been confounded by the presence of serum-containing media. KFs were obtained from patients undergoing facial keloid removal. The 4 commercially available serum-free media evaluated were AIM-V (Gibco, Grand Island, NY), Fibroblast Growth Medium (FGM; Clonetics, San Diego, CA), HB GRO (Irvine Scientific, Santa Ana, CA), and UltraCULTURE (BioWhittaker Inc, Walkersville, MD). The main outcome measures were sustained KF growth and viability as compared with serum-based models. The KFs in UltraCULTURE had a higher viability but did not grow as well as in FGM. The KFs in HB GRO and AIM-V demonstrated significantly decreased viability. Because of FGM's satisfactory proliferative support and viability comparable with serum-based medium, it is recommended for the in vitro propagation of keloid-producing fibroblasts.
Objective
We aimed to explore the impact of telehealth in the setting of COVID‐19 on patient access to ambulatory rheumatologic care at our academic public health system and to determine whether telemedicine visits had a beneficial impact on access to our rheumatology ambulatory clinics.
Methods
We compared completed, no‐show, and cancellation rates between in‐person clinic visits and telemedicine appointments over a 10‐week time period before Ohio's initial executive order responding to COVID‐19 (premandate period) and a 10‐week time period afterward (postmandate period). Scheduling and appointment data were retrospectively extracted from the medical center's electronic health record.
Results
During the premandate period, when all visits were in‐person, the total number of completed visits was 930. The percentages of cancellations, no‐shows, and completed appointments of all appointment activities were 31.43%, 13.12%, and 55.46%, respectively. During the postmandate period, when telemedicine visits were added, the overall total number of completed visits was 1038. The percentages of cancellations, no‐shows, and completed appointments of all appointment activities were 53.45%, 13.91%, and 32.64%, respectively, for in‐person appointments and 0.12%, 8.48%, and 91.39%, respectively, for telemedicine appointments.
Conclusion
Telemedicine during the COVID‐19 pandemic resulted in higher rates of completed appointments and lower rates of missed appointments in the rheumatology outpatient clinic compared with in‐person visits during and prior to the pandemic.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.