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A study of our hospital records has confirmed a striking increase in the number of melanoma cases. An examination of the New York State statistics demonstrates a 202 percent increase in the case rate from 1950 to 1971. The Connecticut statistics extending from 1935 to 1972 show an age-adjusted incidence rate increase of more than 300 percent for men, and more than 600 percent for women. An increased frequency of melanoma has been reported also for Texas, Canada, Australia, England and Wales. The available information on melanoma deaths and mortality rates fails to suggest that these lesions are biologically less significant than those so designated in the past. There has been no change in preferential sites of melanoma location in either sex, despite the increased incidence of the disease reported from these many geographic areas. The cause of the increased incidence remains obscure.

An epidemiological review of electrical burns of the mouth in children pinpoints the cause to the female end of extension cords. The use of a protective cuff, designed to prevent these disfiguring injuries, is suggested.

We hypothesized that epigenetic (non-genomic) factors, related to muscular function, significantly regulate the shape and position of the auricular cartilage. We tested this experimentally by doing unilateral partial and total facial neurectomies, auricular myectomies, and ear rotations with skin excisions in rats. The neurectomies produced muscle atrophy, abolished the horizontal scaphoid ridging, and produced characteristic changes in the auricular shape. The myectomies of extrinsic auricular musculature alone were followed routinely by complete muscle regeneration and no changes in shape. The auricular rotations, with skin excision, produced an antihelix-like complex analogous to the human ear--a configuration that was permanent and was accompanied by muscle relocation. The findings are believed to support our hypothesis.

Studies were conducted on mannequins using gasoline and flammable and nonflammable children's clothing. The results indicate that the flame-resistant standards currently required by law for children's sleepweare lead to much less severe burns.

Thirty-nine keratoacanthomas from 35 patients have been studied, six of which showed perineural, and one vascular, invasion. Thus far, their aggressive histological behavior has not been paralleled by a similar clinical course. However, continued close follow-up is essential.