Use of human keratinocytes cultured on fibrin glue in the treatment of burn wounds.

ABSTRACT

Keratinocytes isolated from a small skin biopsy and cultured according to the method of Rheinwald and Green (Cell 1975, 6 331) are able to undergo rapid expansion in vitro and have been used successfully in the treatment of burn wounds. One of the inconveniences of this method involves the transfer of the epidermal sheet from the culture flask onto the wound bed. One way to facilitate this process is to use fibrin glue (Biocol) as a culture bed for the keratinocytes. Burns are then grafted by simply placing the sheet of fibrin glue and keratinocytes onto the wound bed. This process has been successful in two patients, permanently covering areas of 720 cm2 and 5342 cm2. The newly formed epidermis was fully differentiated and histologically normal after 1 year. The efficiency of this improved, faster procedure could lead to a new approach in the treatment of extensive burn wounds.