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Introduction: Skin grafting is a routinely employed technique to cover the skin defect. Though the skin grafts are technically effortless, they are tiresome because of the prolonged duration of hospital stay, labor-intensive, demanding repeated dressings, and also create a second wound. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is one that has a higher concentration of platelets than the blood. Alpha granules of the platelets are rich in growth factors. Aims and Objectives: To assess the effect of PRP on split-thickness skin graft uptake and donor site healing. Materials and Methods: In a single-center-based prospective study done from August 2018 to June 2020, 60 patients with acute and chronic wounds were divided into two equal groups. Autologous PRP was applied on the recipient wound bed and donor site in PRP group, and conventional methods like staples/sutures were used to anchor the skin grafts and standard of care of the donor site in a control group. Results: Instantaneous graft adhesion was observed in all patients of PRP group. The first graft inspection was delayed. Seroma, hematoma, total number of dressings, and duration of stay in hospital were significantly reduced in the PRP group. Donor site pain in the postoperative period was notably reduced in PRP group. PRP also remarkably hastened the donor site healing. Conclusion: The application of PRP promotes graft take, minimizes complications, enhances donor site wound healing, mitigates donor site pain, and has immense economic benefits due to the reduced number of dressing changes and shorter hospital stay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and hence diffusion-weighted imaging in prediction of pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) and its molecular subtypes. Methods In this tertiary hospital-based prospective study, 30 patients aged 30 to 65 years, having clinically/cytologically diagnosed LABC, were included. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was done to obtain prechemotherapy ADC (ADC pre), postchemotherapy ADC (ADC post), change in ADC (ΔADC), and ΔADC% for each tumor and its subtype. Postsurgical pCR was used as the reference standard for determining tumor response. All four ADC parameters were compared between pCR and non-pCR groups. Results Of the 30 patients, 19 (63.3%) patients showed pCR, while 11 (36.7%) patients did not. The pCR group showed significantly lower mean ADC pre (p < 0.001) and higher mean ADC post (p < 0.05), ΔADC, and ΔADC% (p = 0.000) than non-pCR group. The best cutoff values to differentiate responders from nonresponders with receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of ADC pre , ADC post , and ΔADC% were 0.98 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s (68.4% sensitivity, 63.6% specificity), 1.31×10 −3 mm 2 /s (68.4% sensitivity, 63.6% specificity), and 25% (84.2% sensitivity, 90.9% specificity), respectively. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-enriched subtype showed significant difference in mean ADC pre (p = 0.045), while triple-negative subtype showed significant differences in mean ADC post (p = 0.032) and mean ΔADC (p = 0.019) between the two groups. Conclusion ADC pre , ADC post , and ΔADC can predict pCR to NACT in LABC. Among molecular subtypes, ADC pre was predictive only in HER2-enriched subtype, while ADC post and ΔADC were predictive only in triple-negative subtype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The herpes zoster (HZ) virus first manifests as varicella, or chickenpox, in children and remains dormant in the dorsal root ganglia of the nerves. The vesicular eruptions that might be painful develop along a dermatome when the virus is reactivated. While postherpetic neuralgia is a well-known side effect of herpes simplex, there are well-reported motor consequences as well. Segmental zoster paresis is an uncommon motor consequence of herpes zoster that resembles an anterior abdominal wall hernia but does not require surgery in contrast to an actual abdominal wall hernia. We present a similar case of a 46-year-old male who presented with classic herpes zoster rash and phantom hernia as a rare sequela of this condition., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Sharma et al.)

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is globally a major health burden predisposing to limb amputation. Among the various treatment modalities, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is emerging as a promising agent. It stimulates wound healing by providing a higher concentration of essential growth factors locally. Though the role of PRP in DFU healing is established, still the route of administration with maximal efficacy is yet to be defined. Our study aims to evaluate the efficacy of autologous PRP in the treatment of diabetic ulcers and compare the effect of topical and perilesional injections of PRP in DFU healing. We conducted a single-centre, prospective, interventional study on 60 patients with DFU, in 2 groups of 30 patients each. They were treated with freshly prepared autologous PRP injection perilesionally and topically respectively, once a week for 4 weeks. Ulcer size was assessed, using "imito-measure" software at presentation and 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks post-therapy. Serum MMP-9 levels were assessed in both groups, pretreatment and post-treatment. For statistical analysis, SPSS software V-23 was used. On assessment, both groups had comparable baseline characteristics, Wagner's grading, and glycemic indices. The percentage reduction in the size of the wound at 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months was greater in the perilesional group as compared to the topical PRP group.