Treatment of intractable skin ulcers caused by vascular insufficiency with allogeneic cultured dermal substitute: a report of eight cases.

Chronic leg ulcers have various causes and can be difficult to treat, although topical treatments, including basic fibroblast growth factor and PGE1, have been used. We applied an allogeneic cultured dermal substitute (CDS) to eight patients with intractable ulcers. The patients had various underlying diseases, including diabetes mellitus, systemic lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid syndrome, necrobiosis lipoidica, stasis dermatitis, livedo vasculopathy, and rheumatoid arthritis. The CDS was prepared by seeding cultured human fibroblasts on a spongy matrix consisting of hyaluronic acid and atelocollagen. Good clinical results were achieved, as demonstrated by reepithelization, healthy granulation tissue formation, and a subsequent decrease in wound size. Daily dressing changes became unnecessary when the allogeneic CDS was used. Based on these results, we suggest that CDS may be useful for the treatment of intractable skin ulcers.