Treatment of Partial Thickness Burn Wounds with Cultured Epidermal Homografts

PURPOSE: Since Rheinwald and Green laid the foundation of epidermal cell culture technology in 1975, many clinicians and scientists have attempted to prove the effectiveness of cultured epidermal autologous(CEA) or homogenetic(CEH) grafts in the wound healing process. In contrast to CEA which cultured from a patient's skin on demand, Cultured Epidermal Homograft (CEH) can be readily available to use on cleaned wounds. In this study, we conducted a controlled clinical trial in order to confirm the effectiveness of CEH in treating partial-thickness 2nd degree burn wounds. METHODS: From July 2003 to January 2004 at Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, we performed a clinical trial in which 35 patients who suffered from 2nd degree burns were enrolled. Wounds were randomly divided into two parts, control and test sites. Test sites were treated with allogeneic keratinocyte sheets (Kaloderm(R), Tegoscience Inc.), a CEH commercialized in Korea. RESULTS: All wounds healed completely without any major complication. The complete healing took 8.3+/- 2.8(mean+/-S.D.) days in the test sites as opposed to 11.7+/-3.3 days in the control sites. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, we concluded that CEH accelerates re-epithelialization of partial thickness burn wounds and CEH can be an safe alternative to skin grafts for 2nd degree burns.

Treadmill-induced Hand Injury in Children

Recently, the usage of an exercising treadmill has increased in Korean homes. Along with increasing utilization of these machines, injuries relating to the inadvertent usage of the machine have gradually increased for the last several years. The purpose of this study is to identify the feature of this type of injury, thereby to help prevent and to raise an awareness of the potential injury. 25 patients who had been admitted to Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital from January 2002 through March 2004 were investigated retrospectively. Age, sex, place of injury, the area and the extent of injury, treatment and prognosis were analyzed for each case. All injuries involved in the children with an average age of 3.5 years. This new type of injury was at least a deep second-degree burn of the friction-burn type in all cases. Most of them primarily involved hands. Inattention of the guardian was the main cause of such injuries. 68% of the cases needed an operation such as a split- thickness skin graft or a full-thickness skin graft. In this study, authors reached a conclusion that such injuries may be prevented by an education of the potential risks of using a treadmill and by developing additional safety devices.