HISTORY OF THE EURO-SKIN-BANK - THE INNOVATION OF PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGIES

A skin bank facility is indispensable for burn care. In Holland, a ski n bank was established in October 1976 on a national basis for economi cal reasons. Since 1981, overcoming early rejection by innovation of e xisting, and development of new, preservation technologies became the main scientific objective. The immunological benefits of glycerolizati on of skin became clear in 1983. In clinical practice, the use of glyc erolized allograft in sandwich grafting changed this technique into a reliable procedure. Early rejection can still be a problem, especially in the non-immunocompromised patient. Future research projects are fo cused on immunomodulation of the skin by chemical, physical and immuno logical methods. Even the risk of HIV transmission is not now a drawba ck for the use of glycerolized skin.