National Healing Corp. Announces Rapid Wound Pathology Services

Boca Raton, Fla.-based National Healing Corporation (NHC), which accounts for 30 percent of the nation's managed wound healing centers, announces a new rapid wound pathology service to its centers and client hospitals in association with the division of dermatopathology in the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.

When faced with an atypical wound, the clinical staff at National Healing Corporation Wound Healing Centers will send a biopsy to the experts in Miami who will be aided by advanced diagnostic techniques including histology, histochemistry and immunohistochemistry. 

"We have set a priority on translational research with a bench-to-bedside-to-community approach," said National Healing Corp. CEO Jim Patrick.  "From our groundbreaking research partnership with The Ohio State University to our association with the Miller School of Medicine at University of Miami, we are committed to ensuring that National Healing Corporation Wound Healing Centers in every community have access to the leading edge treatments and tools."

NHC Wound Healing Centers offer state-of-the-art methodologies and treatments including hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the use of vascular studies, tissue culturing and pathology, revascularization, skin grafting, and clinical or surgical debridement.

The rapid wound dermatopathology service is currently being introduced to all NHC Wound Healing Centers following its successful trial this summer at Reid Wound Healing and HyperbaricMedicineCenter in Richmond, Ind.

A case study of a rare life-threatening condition that was treated during the pilot of the program, was presented in Paris last September before the international Dermatopathology Symposium.  The study, "From the Microscope to the Clinical Practice" was presented by Dr. Paolo Romanelli, an associate professor in the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery at University of Miami. 

The case study described a patient who presented with an abscess that appeared to be from a spider bite. After no improvement in her condition, a biopsy was forwarded to University of Miami which correctly diagnosed North American Blastomycosis, a rare infection caused by breathing in a fungus found in wood and soil.  The patient received the proper antibiotics and a successful wound outcome was achieved.

In what may be the first instance of a company in the wound care industry partnering with a leading research institution, NHC is an official partner of the Wound Healing Research Program at The Ohio State University in Columbus.  The partnership has resulted in the world's largest database of tissue samples providing the most complete catalog of healing and non-healing responses across a wide variety of wound types and patient conditions.  All the institutions contributing to the database are NHC Wound Healing Centers and samples are organized into healing and non-healing groups with additional classifications based on age, wound type, and other factors.

NHC also participates in clinical trials and multi-center studies of the effectiveness of new therapies and products with the primary objective of advancing wound care through knowledge driven by research.

Source: National Healing Corporation