Coverage of full-thickness burns with bilayered skin equivalents: a preliminary clinical trial.
A total of six patients have received bilayered skin-equivalent coverage of full-thickness burns, with takes of 50% to 70% in the later patients. These skin-equivalent grafts are constructed by combining allogeneic fibroblasts with collagen to form a sheet and adding a suspension of autologous epidermal cells to the surface of the collagen matrix. These bilayered skin-equivalent grafts have provided an expansion of at least fifteenfold to twentyfold for the area covered by the donor epidermis. By 8 months after grafting, the skin-equivalent grafts appeared smooth and approximated the color of normal skin. Long-term problems associated with hypertrophic scarring or graft fragility have not developed during the 18-month period of follow-up.
Biological Sciences Department, Wright State University, Dayton, OH 45435.
B E
BE
Hull
R K
RK
Finley
S F
SF
Miller
D000293:Adolescent; D002056:Burns / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003094:Collagen; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000637:transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D013997:Time Factors
D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D003094:Collagen