From the Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (E.K., K.S., V.G., H.B.A., S.S., P.M.R.), Bethesda, Maryland, and Department of Surgery, Washington Hospital Center (V.G., H.B.A., P.M.R.), Washington, D.C.
Submitted for publication October 10, 2001.
Accepted for publication November 30, 2001.
Supported by Office of Naval Research grant MDA 905-99-1-0022.
The opinions and assertions contained herein are the private ones of the authors and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Department of Defense at large. This manuscript was prepared by United States Government employees and, therefore, cannot be copyrighted and may be copied with restriction.
This work was scheduled for presentation at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, which was canceled because of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Address for reprints: Elena Koustova, PhD, Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20814; email: [email protected]