The authors have shown that transposing a vascular pedicle to a subcutaneously placed silicone block will result in a vascular capsule that can be mobilized and transferred based solely on the pedicle. Although the capsule provides vascularity to the chondrocytes, the cultured cartilage will fill the shape of the silicone mold only if an appropriate carrier such as fibrin glue is used and an external mold is applied.

No abstract

A series of 33 patients with juvenile dermatomyositis was reviewed in terms of their prognosis in relation to their drug therapy. This retrospective study was intended to help clarify the use of various therapies in this rare, heterogeneous disease from our hospital's experience in the last 24 years. The results confirmed that oral corticosteroids should remain the undisputed first line of treatment. For more refractory, chronic patients, the results suggest that azathioprine should be the favored drug of first choice (in addition to corticosteroids). There may be a role for cyclosporine as a "rescue" treatment, but this needs to be further defined.