Craniofacial Measurements: A History of Scientific Racism, Rethinking Anthropometric Norms.

ABSTRACT: Craniofacial measurements have been used in attempt to create racial categories. This article discusses the history of this practice and the potential implications this has for patients.

Biobrane dressing for paediatric burns in Singapore: a retrospective review.

INTRODUCTION: The ideal burn dressing for children should aim to alleviate pain, decrease length of hospital stay and minimise complications such as conversion and infection. The current literature is still inconclusive with regard to the gold standard burn dressing for the paediatric population. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed children with superficial partial thickness burns admitted to our paediatric burns unit from January 2014 to April 2015. A total of 30 patients were included in our study, of whom 13 had Biobrane® dressing. The remaining 17 patients were treated with conventional silver foam dressing (i.e. Biatain® Ag) and served as matched controls. Long-term follow-up scar evaluation was carried out at an average interval of two years after injury. RESULTS: In the Biobrane group, the length of hospital stay was significantly shorter (Biobrane vs. silver foam: 4.76 ± 2.64 days vs. 8.88 ± 5.09 days; p = 0.01) and the infection rate was significantly lower (Biobrane vs. silver foam: 0% vs. 35.3%; p = 0.02). The Biobrane group had no hypergranulation or wound infection and did not require skin grafting. Long-term follow-up scar evaluation did not reveal any statistical difference between the patient groups at the two-year interval. CONCLUSION: Paediatric patients with partial thickness burns treated with Biobrane dressing had shorter hospital stay and lower incidence of infection compared to those treated with conventional silver foam dressing. Biobrane and silver foam dressings did not demonstrate any significant difference in terms of long-term scar outcomes over an average follow-up duration of two years.

Discordant Type I Preaxial Polydactyly in Monozygotic Twins on the Same Hand: A Case Report.

There are 4 types of preaxial polydactyly (PPD), and type I (PPD-I), also known as thumb duplication, is the most common. This frequently encountered condition has since been further described and classified by Wassel based on the level of duplication of skeletal anatomy. Genetic studies have localized possible candidate gene(s) for PPD types II to IV to the chromosomal region 7q36 but the current literature attributes PPD-I to isolated, spontaneous mutations typically with unilateral involvement only. Recent epidemiological studies have also suggested nongenetic causes for PPD-I including social and environmental factors. Herein, we would like to present a case of discordant PPD-I expression affecting the same hand in a pair of monozygotic twins and suggest possible reasons for this presentation because previous similar reports only had involvement of 1 child.