by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 24, 2021 | Uncategorized
I am going to post a series of patients with confirmed or presumed pyoderma gangrenosum, most of who’s biopsy findings did not confirm the diagnosis. However, their response to a trial of prednisone was dramatic and the wounds closed with prednisone (or in some cases,...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 5, 2021 | Uncategorized
CutisCare has launched “Hyperbaric Aware,” a national campaign to elevate awareness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Despite the fact that Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has been in common use since the 1960’s and is an effective healing option for...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 15, 2021 | Fight the Good Fight, Uncategorized
I ask my nurses to leave the discarded dressings on top of the trashcan so that I can have a look at them. There’s a lot you can learn from used dressings. I am worried about the fact that drainage can be copious despite compression, that patients on oral...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 17, 2020 | Don't Miss This, Uncategorized, US Wound Registry
Wound Clinic Leaders: Please Take This Survey The US Wound Registry is focused on improving the quality of care and outcomes of patients with chronic wounds and ulcers. As a CMS-recognized Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR), we are trying to understand real-world...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 20, 2020 | Uncategorized
For more than two decades I’ve had the opportunity to work with Dr. Eva Sevick and her team at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston on the development of real-time lymphatic imaging. In fact, above is a photo of me many years ago, with one of...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 24, 2020 | Miscellaneous Musings, Uncategorized
Did you see that 2011 movie, “Contagion”? Despite having an all-star cast, it was a disappointment since the writers put the interesting stuff at the front and then the rest of the movie went downhill. However, there’s a moment when Kate Winslet (as a CDC doctor) goes...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 27, 2019 | Uncategorized
A year ago in December 2018, Judge Reed O’Connor, District Court judge for the Northern District of Texas, ruled that no part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could stand after Congress passed new legislation that removed the tax penalty for NOT having insurance....
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 18, 2019 | Uncategorized
An increasing percentage of my wound center patients have Medicare Advantage plans offered by private payers. As I’ve discussed on previous blogs, it’s getting very hard to use cellular and/or tissue-based products (CTPs) on chronic wound patients with Medicare...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 9, 2019 | Uncategorized
Pyoderma Gangrenosum (PG) is one of the most painful wounds we see each year. It is called a “rare” disorder with an estimated incidence of 3 to 10 cases per million people per year.(1) That would mean there are about 20 new cases of PG in Houston, Texas each year....
