TREATMENT OF LEG ULCERS WITH CULTURED EPITHELIAL AUTOGRAFTS - TREATMENT PROTOCOL AND 5-YEAR EXPERIENCE

Leg ulcers are a significant medical problem in the United States. The number of affected patients at any given time is staggering. Treatmen t modalities have widely varied and are often unsuccessful. We evaluat ed the effectiveness of cultured epithelial autografts in the treatmen t of leg ulcers due to various etiologies that had failed other standa rd therapy. Eighty-six ulcers in 36 patients were treated with culture d epithelial autografts after full evaluation of their ulcers. The ulc ers were grouped by etiology and healing was assessed by time to heali ng, number of ulcers healed and mean number of graft applications. The results achieved in the past five years have shown that cultured epit helial autografts are highly effective in treating chronic leg ulcers. Eighty percent of venous insufficiency ulcers healed in 5.7 weeks. Si milar results were seen with ulcers of other etiologies including arte rial insufficiency, pyoderma gangrenosum, scleroderma, and vasculitis. Positive results were seen in cases where other treatment methods had failed and seems independent of systemic corticosteroids.