Bromelain-based enzymatic debridement as a treatment of choice in high-risk patient with deep facial burns, a case report.

Introduction: Deep facial burns are often combined with inhalation injury that could lead to patient destabilization. Accurate timing of surgical debridement of deep burns in a critical patient is the real medical art. Especially in patients with deep burned face and hands, in whom early debridement promises better functional and aesthetic results.

Deep frozen amniotic membrane used as a scaffold and/or carrier for different cell types.

Amniotic membrane is a biological material widely used in plastic and reconstructive surgery and in ophthalmology. Due to its excellent biocompatibility and strength we tried to use it as a scaffold for the in vitro cultivation of different cell types, especially keratinocytes and limbal stem cells. It was possible to cultivate limbal stem cells and keratinocytes without using 3T3 mouse fibroblast feeder cells on deep frozen amniotic membranes.

[Employment of current results of tissue engineering in the development of skin substitutes].

Substitution of skin, particularly in extensive burns, is one of the key points for patients mortality reduction. In addition to the use of allogeneic and autologous skin substitutes, new developments in tissue engineering would enable the use biosynthetic and combined skin substitutes, which could mimic the structure and functions of normal skin. Several such types of substitutes like cultured allogeneic and autologous keratinocytes, allogeneic/autologous composites, acellular matrices, matrices based on biological substances such as collagen/hyaluronic acid, and matrices seeded by different cell types (keratinocytes, dermal fibroblasts, stem cells) already exist.