Transplantation of cultured autologous epithelium after meningococcal septicaemia in a 4-year-old with 35% skin loss

• Published in: Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery
• Main Authors: Kjartansson, J, Dalsgaard, C J, Haegerstrand, A, Bjarnason, R, Jakobsson, B
• Other Authors: Department of Plastic Surgery, St. Joseph's Hospital, Hafnarfjörour, Iceland.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Informa Healthcare 2011
• Subjects: Cells; Cultured; Child; Preschool; Epithelial Cells; Female; Humans; Meningitis; Meningococcal; Necrosis; Sepsis; Shock; Septic; Skin; Skin Transplantation; Transplantation; Autologous; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/128336; https://doi.org/10.3109/02844319109020636

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field A 4-year-old girl with scattered full-thickness skin and soft tissue wounds mainly on the extremities and corresponding to roughly 35% of the total body surface area was treated with early excision and transplantation of cultured autologous epidermal grafts. The transplantation was accomplished in one stage, three weeks after admission. The epidermal cells were cultured in Stockholm, Sweden and the time of transportation of the grafts to Reykjavik, Iceland (seven hours) did not seem to affect the quality, as 85% had taken one week after transplantation. The patient healed completely without further transplantation, but a few local skin flaps were needed to cover exposed articular surfaces. The patient was discharged from hospital with stable grafts five weeks after transplantation.