Nail surgery

Nail surgery is a special branch of hand and dermatologic surgery. It is not widely performed, and many physicians do not feel at ease to perform it. The objective of this contribution is to give a short overview of the most important surgical procedures in clinical practice. References from the literature and the author's own experiences are condensed to describe what a dermatologic practitioner with knowledge of the nail and some surgical skills can perform. Nail surgery is a precise technique that requires careful administration and attention to details. Proper patient preparation starts with a patient history to identify potential contraindications and to prevent unnecessary complications. The author recommends isopropyl alcohol scrub and chlorhexidine for disinfection and ropivacaine 1% for anesthesia. The technique used for anesthesia depends on the type of surgery. Surgical procedures are described for diagnostic biopsies, nail avulsion in general, onychogryposis, paronychia treatment, hematomas and bone fracture due to trauma, removal of subungual foreign bodies, ingrowing nails, pincer nails, warts, ungual fibrokeratomas, digital myxoid pseudocyst, subungual exostoses, and various tumors. If performed correctly with adequate skills, nail surgery will lead to functionally and aesthetically satisfying results in the majority of instances.

Infection of organotypic slice cultures from rat central nervous tissue with Neospora caninum: an alternative approach to study host-parasite interactions

Neospora caninum is an apicomplexan parasite which has emerged as an important cause of bovine abortion worldwide. Abortion is usually triggered by reactivation of dormant bradyzoites during pregnancy and subsequent congenital infection of the foetus, where the central nervous system appears to be most frequently affected. We here report on an organotypic tissue culture model for Neospora infection which can be used to study certain aspects of the cerebral phase of neosporosis within the context of a three-dimensionally organised neuronal network. Organotypic slice cultures of rat cortical tissue were infected with N. caninum tachyzoites, and the kinetics of parasite proliferation, as well as the proliferation-inhibitory effect of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), were monitored by either immunofluorescence, transmission electron microscopy, and a quantitative PCR-assay using the LightCycler instrument, respectively. In addition, the neuronal cytoskeletal elements, namely glial acidic protein filaments as well as actin microfilament bundles were shown to be largely colocalising with the pseudocyst periphery. This organotypic culture model for cerebral neosporosis provides a system, which is useful to study the proliferation, ultrastructural characteristics, development, and the interactions of N. caninum within the context of neuronal tissue, which at the same time can be modulated and influenced under controlled conditions, and will be useful in the future to gain more information on the cerebral phase of neosporosis.