CICATRIZATION OF WOUNDS : I. THE RELATION BETWEEN THE SIZE OF A WOUND AND THE RATE OF ITS CICATRIZATION.
1. A method for measuring the area of a wound not geometric in form is described. 2. The rate of cicatrization of a wound is greater at the beginning than at the end of the period of repair. It depends on the area rather than on the age of the wound. There is a constant relation between the size of a wound and the rate of cicatrization. The larger the wound the greater is the rate of cicatrization. Two wounds of different size have a tendency to become equal. 3. The rate is proportional to the area, but diminishes less rapidly than the area. 4. The process of contraction is the more important factor in the repair of a wound. Epidermization completes the work of contraction. After the wound is healed, the cicatrix as a rule expands. 5. The curve representing the diminution of the size of an aseptic wound while it cicatrizes is regular and geometric.
Carrel
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Laboratories of The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York, and Hospital 21, Compiègne, France.
Hartmann
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