Faculty Bibliography

We report the levels of hypoxanthine in rabbit skin granulation tissue, harvested at different postwound intervals and from various locations within the wounds. The effect of full-thickness autogenous skin grafts on hypoxanthine levels has also been examined. The levels of inosine, xanthine, adenosine 5'-monophosphate, and inosine 5'-monophosphate are reported as well. The correlation between the level of these compounds and the healing process suggests they may be useful indicators of the extent of tissue damage

A recently described mammalian wound hyaluronidase is successfully characterized and partially purified in the current study. Peak enzyme activity occurred on postwound day 7, pH optimum 4.5. Both crude and purified wound enzyme exhibited endoglycosidic activity against hyaluronate and chondroitin-4-sulfate but not against chondroitin-6-sulfate or dermatan sulfate. A 5.3-fold increase in activity was obtained by the DEAE-Sephadex purification technique described. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis yielded a single major band near the gel's midrange and one minor band of lesser electrophoretic mobility. These enzyme characteristics support a biochemical analogy between tissue repair in skin and numerous developmental systems and may also provide a simple means for enzymatic differentiation among chondroitin sulfate isomers

Many oral surgical procedures are followed by varying degrees of edema. Although numerous methods of minimizing swelling have been advocated, no technique has gained complete acceptance. A major problem has been the inability to document the efficacy of suggested treatments convincingly. The present study quantitates edema by measuring differences in percentage of water content between operated and unoperated tissues over a period of one week. Percentage difference in water content peaked by 48 to 72 hours and was followed by gradual resolution. By use of this model system, a steroid-induced, dose-dependent suppression of postsurgical swelling was confirmed

Chin trauma, mandibular fracture, and cervical spine injury are often progressive components of a single injury pattern. Knowledge of a commonly occurring sequence of damage in patients who have sustained minor head trauma helps to minimize diagnostic omissions and provides a rational basis for deciding how extensive the patient's evaluation should be. Chin laceration associated with underlying skeletal damage has been described previously, but its diagnostic significance seldom has been appreciated. This report describes representative patients with fractures of the cervical spine and of the mandible secondary to chin trauma and suggests a protocol for efficient diagnosis

Computed tomography was found to be useful in identifying complete, unilateral, fibro-osseous ankylosis of the temporomandibular joint in a case of mandibular hypomobility. The scan had increased sensitivity and reliability in studying hard and soft tissues of the TMJ and gave the patient less radiation exposure than conventional tomography or arthrotomography. The current report incorporates the CT scan into a radiographic protocol for the diagnosis of mandibular hypomobility and identifies situations in which conventional tomography can be omitted