Objective:Changes in body temperature occur as a systemic reaction to severe trauma; however, its role in the manifestation of injury remains unclear. Thermoregulatory responses vary considerably from fever to hypothermia. Although hypothermic trauma patients seem to have a worse prognosis, there is the question whether hypothermia per se or the severity of trauma producing the hypothermia is responsible for aggravated injury and increased mortality rate. The present study unravels how moderate to severe systemic hypothermia modulates local microcirculatory dysfunction and cellular injury in local soft tissue trauma. Design:Prospective, experimental study. Setting:Research laboratory at a university. Subjects:C57BL/6J mice. Interventions:A model involving standardized drop weight device-induced tissue trauma and high-resolution multifluorescence microscopy in the dorsal skinfold chamber was used to show arteriolar vasoconstriction, reduction of blood flow, nutritive perfusion failure, and apoptotic cell death at 1 hr after trauma. Measurements and Main Results:During the 8-hr posttrauma observation period, microcirculation, but not apoptosis, restituted to almost baseline level. Concomitant systemic hypothermia of either 34°C or 30°C did not affect late manifestation of apoptotic cell death but aggravated initial microcirculatory dysfunction and inhibited recovery during the 8-hr follow-up period. Conclusions:Our study provides evidence that systemic hypothermia may aggravate soft tissue trauma-associated microcirculatory dysfunction. These experimental results clearly support clinical efforts to prevent hypothermia in the acutely traumatized patient.

Dear colleagues and friends, it is a great pleasure for me and my local organizing team to invite you to the Annual Meeting of the Gesellschaft für Mikrozirkulation und Vaskuläre Biologie. We have put together an innovative and front ranked scientific program for basic scientists and clinicians interested in the diverse fields of microcirculation and vascular biology. Invited lectures will be supplemented by free oral communications, presenting newest results. Among the basic program with regular topics on microcirculatory and vascular research, we included two lectures entitled “Microcirculation in vascular diseases – (i) basic research and (ii) clinical research“. Both, scientific and clinical experts will present an overview on the microcirculatory pathophysiology of vascular diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension and atherosclerosis, and –hopefully-pave the ground for a fruitful interdisciplinary discussion. In this sense, the meeting, which is paralleled by the Annual Meeting of the German Society for Clinical Microcirculation and Hemorheology, attempts to better merge all disciplines engaged in clinical and experimental microcirculatory research. In addition, the Hermann Rein prize will be awarded for the best publication in the area of microcirculation and vascular biology research. On this occasion the members of the organizing committee would like to thank in advance the many highly esteemed speakers and chairpersons for their enthusiasms in participation and their valuable contribution to this meeting. We are looking forward to a lively discussion leading to new ideas for future scientific work, In diesem Sinne hoffe ich, Sie wiederum ganz herzlich in der ältesten Universitätsstadt Nordeuropas, in Rostock, begrüßen zu dürfen und wünsche Ihnen einen erfolgreichen Kongress, interes-sante wissenschaftliche Diskussionen und viele freundschaftliche Gespräche. Oral Presentations The location for the oral sessions will be the Katharinensaal (GfMVB) at the ground floor and the Kammermusiksaal (DGKMH) at the first floor of the Academy of Music and Theatre. Computer and beamer will be provided for PowerPoint presentations. The files should be delivered on CD or USB memory stick. Every speaker should keep within the given time, considering appropriate time for discussion (minimum 5 minutes). The location for the poster sessions will be the Kapitelsaal at the ground floor and the Orgelsaal at the first floor of the Academy of Music and Theatre. Size of the poster should be in portrait format DIN A0 (height x width: 120cm x 85cm). Fixing materials for poster mounting will be provided at site. Poster presentation will include a 3-min talk during the chaired …