CICATRIZATION OF WOUNDS : III. THE RELATION BETWEEN THE AGE OF THE PATIENT, THE AREA OF THE WOUND, AND THE INDEX OF CICATRIZATION.
The first article of this series showed that it was possible to express mathematically the phenomenon of cicatrization. The principal point consisted in determining by means of an equation, a constant, or index, characterizing each wound. The calculation had to be made for each patient for each wound, and required two observations, 4 days apart. The index having proved to be a continuous function of the size of the wound and of the age of the patient, of the form See PDF for Equation where S is the area, i the index, a a decimal exponent, and K a constant, it was then possible to draw a chart by means of which this index i could be obtained without calculation. The advantage of the new way of determining the index is, above all, that this index is a general, average, normal index, and no longer an individual index. Hence, the differences between the observed rate of cicatrization of man and the normal rate may give some indication of the general state of the patient. Another advantage is that the determination of the index is no longer controlled by the temporary accidents which may happen between the two observations of S and S'.
Du Noüy
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Laboratories of The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York, and Hospital 21, Compiègne, France.