Diagnosis
Classification
The definitions of the pressure ulcer stages are revised periodically by the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPUAP) in the United States and the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) in Europe. Different classification systems are used around the world, depending upon the health system, the health discipline and the purpose for the classifying (e.g. health care versus, prevalence studies versus funding. Briefly, they are as follows:
Stage I: Intact skin with non-blanchable redness of a localized area usually over a bony prominence. Darkly pigmented skin may not have visible blanching; its color may differ from the surrounding area. The area differs in characteristics such as thickness and temperature as compared to adjacent tissue. Stage 1 may be difficult to detect in individuals with dark skin tones. May indicate "at risk" persons (a heralding sign of risk). Stage II: Partial thickness loss of dermis presenting as a shallow open ulcer with a red pink wound bed, without slough. May also present as an intact or open/ruptured serum-filled blister. Presents as a shiny or dry shallow ulcer without slough or bruising. This stage should not be used to describe skin tears, tape burns, perineal dermatitis, maceration or excoriation. Stage III: Full thickness tissue loss. Subcutaneous fat may be visible but bone, tendon or muscle are not exposed. Slough may be present but does not obscure the depth of tissue loss. May include undermining and tunneling. The depth of a stage 3 pressure ulcer varies by anatomical location.
While studies are inconclusive, autologous stem cell bone marrow transplantation appears to prolong survival in early treatment failure patients who are healthy enough to withstand this therapy. Unfit patients may benefit from initial treatment with obinutuzumab plus bendamustine followed by maintenance treatment with obinutuzumab (if they have not been treated previously with obinutuzumab).Other mostly experimental treatments currently under study in patients with multiple treatment failures include: 1) Phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitors such as copanlisib, duvelisib, and idelalisib which block the phosphoinositide 3-kinase signaling pathway that promotes the survival, proliferation, and other potentially malignant behaviors of cells; 2) infusion of tisagenlecleucel chimeric antigen receptor T cells (i.e. CAR T cells) (i.e. T cells that have been isolated from patients, engineered to express a receptor for the CD19 protein on, and thereby kill, T cells, and then infused back into the donor patient); 3) Bruons tyrosine kinase inhibitor, ibrutinib, to block the B-cell maturating actions of this kianase; 4) BCL inhibitor  venetoclax to block Bcl2s action in promoting B-cell survival and proliferation; 5) histone deacetylase inhibitors abexinostat and tazemetostat to modify the expression of various genes; and 6) Checkpoint inhibitors nivolumab, pidilizumab, and pembrolizumab to promote the immune systems ability to suppress cancer cell growth. In preliminary studies on FL patients who were known or thought to be refractor to more conventional therapies these drugs, when combined with more conventional drugs, particularly rituximab, produced promising results.