title: Diagnosis of burn depth using laser-induced indocyanine green fluorescence: a preliminary clinical trial.
abstract: Clinical assessment of burn depth is frequently inaccurate. In order to effectively plan the treatment of burn wounds, an accurate diagnosis of burn depth is desirable. A new method for evaluating the depth of burns by imaging the blood flow through the burned tissue using fluorescence from intravenously injected indocyanine green (ICG) dye illuminated with a 785-nm, near-infrared diode laser array was evaluated. Nine patients and 15 individual burn sites were studied. Five sites were classified by the ICG study as superficial second degree, four were deep-dermal second degree, and six were third degree. Etiology of the injuries included flame, contact burns, and scalds. The date postburn of the study ranged from 1 to 11 days. In all cases, the relative fluorescence levels (e.g. superficial second-degree burns yielded relatively bright fluorescence, third-degree burns appeared much darker than surrounding normal skin) were found to correlate well with actual burn depth as determined by histologic examination of biopsies and intraoperative clinical assessment.
authors.affiliation: The Joseph M. Still Burn Center, Columbia-Augusta Medical Center, Augusta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Still
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Law
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Klavuhn
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Island
authors.forename: J Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Holtz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002056:Burns / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005453:Fluorescence; D006801:Humans; D007208:Indocyanine Green; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D007208:Indocyanine Green