BACKGROUND In reconstructive surgery, the ultimate goal in rebuilding a structure is to provide the most similar substitute from both the functional and structural points of view. At the same time, the reconstructive surgeon should focus on minimizing donor area complications. METHODS In this report, we present our experiences with the reconstruction of distal extremity defects using a free t...

Skin color is one of the most distinct features in the human race. To assess the mechanisms of skin color variation, human skin substitutes (HSS) were constructed by grafting mixtures of cultured keratinocytes and melanocytes from a combination of donor skin types, together with light skin derived fibroblasts, into chambers inserted onto the back skin of severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) m...

A 44 years old male patient had suffered extensive 3rd degree burns on both legs, undergoing thorough surgical debridement, resulting in both tibias being exposed. Approximately 5 months after the incident he was referred to the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of the University Hospital Gent, Belgium, to undergo flap reconstruction. Free flap surgery was performed twice on both...

The objective of this study was to demonstrate that stem cells isolated from discarded skin obtained after debridement can be used with collagen and fibrin-based scaffolds to develop a tissue-engineered vascularized dermal equivalent. Discarded tissue samples were collected from severely burned patients undergoing wound debridement. Stem cells were isolated from the adipose tissue layer and the...

Rapid coverage and epithelial closure of extensive burns remains a major requirement for patient recovery. Although many skin substitutes have been described, permanent regeneration of both epithelial and connective tissues after a single surgical application of a skin substitute has not become routine. To replace both dermal and epidermal skin, cultured skin substitutes (CSS) were prepared fro...

in a study of 310 patients with suspected dermatophytic lesions, 110 cases of dermatophytosis, were diagnosed by direct smear in 10% koh and culture by two methods, skin stripping with use of adhesive tape and scrapping with scalpel blade conventional technique). out of 65 positive cultures, in 33 cases, growth was obtained by methods (scraping and stripping), 23 by the conventional technique a...

BACKGROUND Incontinence associated dermatitis (IAD) is an inflammatory skin disease mainly triggered by prolonged skin contact with urine, feces but also liberal detergent use when cleansing the skin. To minimize the epidermal barrier challenge we optimized the design of adult incontinence briefs. In the fluid absorption area we interposed a special type of acidic, curled-type of cellulose betw...

Excised human skin has so far been considered to be one of the most suitable in vitro methods to evaluate the penetration of dermatologically applied substances. The limited supply and the relatively high donor variability stimulated many research groups to use animal skin as a substitute for human skin. Since nowadays reconstructed skin equivalents are commercially available, we examined these...