Laboratory and blood bank needs of a perinatal center

Prenatal and neonatal laboratory diagnostic tests are discussed in terms of purpose, technique, and evaluation of results. The need for quick access to fresh blood products must be appreciated by the blood bank, and the perinatologist must have a thorough understanding of blood products and the need for established procedures to guarantee safe transfusion.     

Use of the stapler in skin closure

The AutoSuture skin stapling instrument reduces operating room time and provides adequate skin closure for a wide variety of plastic surgical procedures.     

Branched-chain amino acid oxidation by isolated rat tissue preparations

Branched-chain amino acid transaminase activity, branced-chain alpha-keto acid dehydrogenase activity, and leucine oxidation were measured in homogenates and slices of several rat tissues. Transaminase activity was highest in heart, while dehydrogenase activity was highest in liver. Leucine oxidation in isolated tissues may be limited by either transaminase or dehydrogenase activity depending upon the relative activities of these two enzymes in the tissue. The results suggest that, as the load of branched-chain amino acids increases, the liver may become an increasingly important site for the degradation of branched-chain alpha-keto acids.