Studies from animal models suggest that myocardial mitochondrial damage contributes to cardiac dysfunction after burn injury. In this report, we used an ex vivo model of primary cardiomyocyte culture to investigate the mechanisms of burn-induced mitochondrial impairment. Briefly, blood serum was collected from Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats subjected to 40% total body surface area burn and added (10%...

Satellite-inferred burn severity data have become increasingly popular over the last decade for management and research purposes. These data typically quantify spectral change between pre-and post-fire satellite images (usually Landsat). There is an active debate regarding which of the two main equations, the delta normalized burn ratio (dNBR) and its relativized form (RdNBR), is most suitable ...

The development of burn scar contracture is a pathologic condition. Burn scar contracture is defined as a loss of motion of a joint or anatomic structure as a result of normal skin being replaced by inextensible scar tissue. The presence of a burn scar contracture has been shown to have a negative impact on a burn survivor’s quality of life, particularly in regards to physical functioning. A fo...

To assess the outcome of burn patients with neuropsychiatric disorders, we performed a 7-year retrospective review of burn patients admitted to the National Defense Medical College. Seventy-seven skin burn patients over 10 years of age were included in this study and divided into two groups, neuropsychiatry and control groups. The neuropsychiatry group consisted of self-inflicted burn patients ...

Background: General practitioners are the first who visit burn patients and they first calculate burn size and required fluid for the patient. Error in calculation can be disastrous. The purpose of this study is to compare four methods of estimating burn size to teach students. Methods: This is a descriptive-analytic study on 37 medical students. Four methods of estimating burn percentage was t...

Definitions It is very important for the clinician caring for a burn victim to know the depth, or degree, of burn. A first-degree burn is superficial, dry, painful to touch, and heals in less than 1 week. A second-degree burn is partial thickness and pink or possibly mottled red. It exhibits bullae or frank weeping on the surface. It usually is painful unless classified as deep and heals in 1 t...

BACKGROUND Gram negative infection is a major determinant of morbidity and survival. Traditional teaching suggests that burn wound infections in different centres are caused by differing sets of causative organisms. This study established whether Gram-negative burn wound isolates associated to clinical wound infection differ between burn centres. METHODS Studies investigating adult hospitalis...

This study examined the effects of major burn injury on the cellular distribution of several PKC isoforms in adult rat hearts and examined the hypothesis that PKC plays a regulatory role in cardiomyocyte cytokine secretion. Burn trauma was given over 40% total body surface area in Sprague-Dawley rats. An in vitro model of burn injury included addition of burn serum, 10% by volume, to primary ca...

The causative organisms of burn wound infection are aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, fungi, and yeasts [1,2]. Viral burn wound infection is rarely reported but does occur. Herpes virus family, including herpes simplex virus and varicella zoster virus, are the most frequent causative agents [3]. However, bacteria are the predominant isolates of burn wound infection. Aspergillus species are the mo...

OBJECTIVE To validate the use of photographic burn wound assessment in evaluation of burn size and wound characteristics. METHODS Feasibility study of agreement between methods of measurement of burn size and characteristics, in patients admitted to the burn unit at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH), Malawi, over two months in 2011. Burn wounds were photographed and assessed clinically, concurren...