Ann Thorac Surg 2005;80:1159
© 2005 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Correspondence
Conflict of Interest Disclosure Relating to "Release of Glutaraldehyde From an Albumin-Glutaraldehyde Tissue Adhesive Causes Significant In Vitro and In Vivo Toxicity. Ann Thorac Surg 2005;79:1522-8."
Walter Fürst, MS,
Heinz Redl, PhD
Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, Donaueschingenstrasse 13 Vienna A-1200, Austria
(Email: walter.fuerst{at}gmx.at).
 |
Editor’s note
|
|---|
The editorial office received a letter alleging undisclosed conflicts of interest soon after the above article was published in the May 2005 issue. Investigation indicates that the authors correctly interpreted the definition of "Conflicts of Interest" as published monthly in the "Conditions for Publication" form. This definition does not include institutional financial contracts or conflicts of non-authors. At the editor’s invitation the first author and the Director of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute now provide additional information, which discloses all relevant facts regarding possible financial conflicts and this article.
L. Henry Edmunds, Jr, MD
Editor, The Annals of Thoracic Surgery
We are sorry to learn that there are unclear issues regarding our article in the May 2005 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery [1]. For this reason we wish to provide additional information.
Walter Fürst is listed as co-inventor on a single patent related to using fibrin based materials for sustained drug release. However, this patent does not address gluing/sealing properties and thus is not related to the publication mentioned above. Moreover, Walter Fürst does not receive any royalties from the patent or any other patent related to biological sealants or adhesives.
The authors, Walter Fürst and Asmita Banerjee, are employees of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Experimental and Clinical Traumatology, which has a well-known, ongoing relationship with Baxter Bioscience (formerly Immuno Vienna) to develop projects in the fibrin, wound and bone healing fields. We also wish to inform you that the Director of the Institute, Prof Heinz Redl, serves as consultant to Baxter Bioscience (formerly Immuno). Walter Fürst and Asmita Banerjee, however, have no financial or other personal relationship with Baxter.
Both Walter Fürst and Heinz Redl (with a background in electron microscopy) discussed their concerns about possible toxicity from the use of glutaraldehyde in vivo. Therefore, Walter Fürst was asked to investigate the toxicity issue thoroughly. However, Heinz Redl did not participate in the studies and was not involved in data analysis or creation of the manuscript. The authors had complete freedom to design and perform the study and to report all their results and conclusions.
Finally, we want to thank the editor for considering our arguments regarding potential doubts about our work and we reaffirm the integrity of our published data to the readers of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
|
References
|
|---|
- Fürst W, Banerjee A. Release of glutaraldehyde from an albumin-glutaraldehyde tissue adhesive causes significant in vitro and in vivo toxicity Ann Thorac Surg 2005;79:1522-1528.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
Top
Editor’s note
References