Abstract. Objective: To compare re-epithelialization rates of superficial partial-thickness burns treated with octylcyanoacrylate (OCA), silver sulfadiazine (SSD), and dry gauze (controls) in swine. Methods: This was a prospective, longitudinal, blinded, controlled, experimental trial using anesthetized swine. Sixty-three standardized burns were created by applying an aluminum bar preheated to 80 o C for 20 seconds to the flanks of four young pigs. Three equal sets of 21 burns were randomly treated with OCA spray, SSD, or dry gauze (controls). Full-thickness biopsies were taken after 30 minutes and at seven and 14 days for blinded histopathologic evaluation by two dermatopathologists using hematoxylin and eosin staining. The percent of wound re-epithelialization was measured at days 7 and 14, calculated by dividing the length of the regenerated epidermis by the measured width of the biopsy. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and repeated-measures ANOVA controlling for the individual pig were used for comparisons among groups. This study had 80% power to demonstrate a large between-group difference in percent re-epithelization (alpha = 0.05). Results: There were 63 burns and 126 biopsies. Ten biopsies were excluded for technical reasons. At seven days, there was a significant between-group difference in percent re-epithelialization. Percent re-epithelialization was greatest in the OCA group (65.0%), followed by the SSD group (37.6%), and lowest in the control group (8.8%). At 14 days, all wounds demonstrated near complete re-epithelialization and there was no significant difference in the percent of re-epithelialization among the groups. There was only one wound infection in the OCA group. Conclusions: Under these study conditions, treatment of partial-thickness burns with OCA spray resulted in a higher percent of re-epithelialization at seven but not 14 days when compared with both SSD and control, with no significant increase in infection rates. Future studies should evaluate the use of OCA for the treatment of burns in humans.

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Cardiac myxoma is an enigmatic tumour thought to arise from primitive cardiac mesenchymal cells. Factor XIIIa+ dendrophages are tissue histiocytes that are active in tissue repair and thrombosis. To explore whether factor XIIIa+ dendrophages play a role in cardiac myxoma morphogenesis, we stained four cases with an antiserum against coagulation factor XIIIa (FXIIIa). We also used antibodies recognizing CD34, CD31, and S-100 protein. Samples of valvular endocardium from 12 and 16 week fetuses and two adult autopsies were compared with the four myxomas. All cardiac myxomas had rounded and dendritic FXIIIa+ cells admixed with more numerous CD34+ spindle and stellate myxoma cells. The CD34+ cells formed multicellular syncytia and capillary sprouts. Many of these syncytial structures also expressed CD31 and, to a lesser extent, S-100 protein, strongly in two cases and more focally in two. Fetal subendocardium was composed of CD34+ stellate fibroblast-like cells invested with scattered FXIIIa+ histiocytes; no S-100+ cells were detected. Our findings confirm that cardiac myxomas are composed of CD34+ primitive subendocardial cells. These cells show a capacity for CD31+ endothelial differentiation. In cardiac myxoma, the CD34+ myxoma cells are accompanied by numerous FXIIIa+ dendrophages, the presence of which suggests abnormal organizing thrombus-like differentiation in cardiac myxoma morphogenesis.