Placental angiogenic and growth factors in the treatment of chronic varicose ulcers: preliminary communication.

A short-term clinical study on the effect of purified angiogenic and growth factors from human term placenta in the treatment of chronic varicose ulcers was carried out in 18 patients. Patients were randomly allocated to receive a maximum of two dressings containing or not containing these factors. The amount of granulation and epithelial tissue was clinically estimated 48 hours after each application. Patients treated with placental angiogenic and growth factors showed increased granulation and epithelial tissue. These results indicate that placental factors may be used for acceleration of wound healing.     

Autologous blood transfusion for pediatric bone marrow donors.

Nine normal bone marrow donors aged 7-166 months (median 69 months) received autologous red cells which had been removed from their marrow harvest after collection. The median volume of marrow removed from the donors was 18.6 ml/kg which was equivalent to a median blood volume loss of 23.3%. Three infant donors were transfused with autologous red blood cells intraoperatively. These cells had been salvaged from the initial marrow aliquot and were transfused while bone marrow harvesting continued. No donors required homologous blood transfusion. This technique is useful for marrow donors in the pediatric age group when preharvest autologous blood collection is not feasible or available.