Evaluation of the efficacy and tolerability of a solution containing propyl betaine and polihexanide for wound irrigation.

Wound cleansing represents a fundamental step in chronic wound management. Several investigations in recent years have led to a refinement of the wound cleansing protocol in order to obtain a better control of the bacterial burden during wound bed preparation and to avoid further cell and tissue damage. The aim of the present randomized controlled trial was to investigate the effects of a wound cleansing solution containing polihexanide and betaine in venous leg ulcers by means of clinical and instrumental assessment. A portable device was used on the wound bed to assess surface pH, which has been shown to be one of the most useful non-invasive biophysical parameters in order to correlate the level of bacterial burden in different types of chronic wounds. Baseline pH on the wound surface (median range) was initially 8.9, and after 4 weeks of cleansing treatment and moist wound dressing was reduced and stable at 7.0 in the group treated with active cleanser. The pH value was significantly lower (p < 0.05) in this group compared to the control group at the end of the study. The treatment with the solution containing polihexanide and betaine was well tolerated by the patients and was found useful in the absorption of wound odours.

Selective localization of alpha brain activity with neuromagnetic measurements.

A method of localizing brain activity by a new combination of magnetic and electrical recording, relative covariance, is described. The successful application of this method to alpha EEG is reported. Spontaneous human brain activity was recorded simultaneously with fixed scalp electrodes and a movable magnetometer. The analysis was restricted to the alpha rhythm, which was selected by a narrow bandpass filter centered at the observed alpha frequency. For each magnetometer location, the ratio of the covariance of the magnetic and electric signals to the electric variance was calculated, producing a map reflecting the magnetic field pattern. Clear maxima of opposite polarity over the left and right parietotemporal areas indicate bilateral current source areas near the midline, in the vicinity of the calcarine fissure, at a depth of 4-6 cm from the scalp. This relative covariance method may prove generally useful in localizing bioelectrical sources such as spontaneous brain rhythms.

Biomagnetic measurements of spontaneous brain activity in epileptic patients.

In the last few years there has been an increasing interest in the magnetic activity due to bioelectrical currents flowing in the brain. In this paper preliminary results are reported concerning spontaneous magnetic brain activity in 36 patients affected by different kinds of brain disease; in most of these cases the symptoms were induced by localized pathology (atrophies, scars, tumors). Measurements were carried out with the simultaneous recording of the EEG. At present one of the most interesting features of magnetic detection seems to be its high localizing ability in cases of cortical foci, and sometimes its ability to show activities not evident in the EEG. These features seem to be very encouraging for the search for technical improvements, with the aim of making the magnetic technique a candidate for current diagnostic purposes.