Epidermolysis Bullosa; The Boy who transplanted 80% of his body skin
Science, surprising you every day!
As humans, we try to understand how many things work. We try to find solutions to problems we face, some more severe than others. As a species, we have enabled individuals that are born with conditions that would otherwise result in loss of ones’ life. A young boy can thank his life to science today.
Unable to generate new skin
Boy with Epidermolysis Bullosa
The research journal Nature, published an article about a young boy, only seven years old, that suffered from a skin disease called Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa. JTB is a genetical, and often lethal and so far, incurable decease where the body is incapable of regenerating new epidermis, the out layer of the skin. The mechanism of a protein forming gene makes skin generation impossible. Wounds do not heal properly, and blisters occur easily during regular everyday activity, things ordinary people take for granted. When blisters burst they leave new wounds and horrible scars.
First case in the world
At the end of 2015 the boy named Hassan, began his medical treatment, with consent from parents and authorities. At this stage, his body lacked most of the outer skin on more than 60 percent of his body, including the back, large parts of his arms and legs, stomach, neck, and face. Thanks to a new, and still experimental treatment, doctors in Germany and Italy successfully grew new skin. With a small tissue sample from Hassan’s skin, they isolated a gene called LAMB3 and grew skin stem cells. These stem cells were used to produce the new epidermis in labs.
With new skin, almost 1 square meter in size, the doctors transplanted the entire sheet of skin on Hassan. The new skin covered 80 percent of the boy’s body. The sheer volume of the transplantation alone has given this procedure a significant notice in the medical world.
Hassan was the first case treated with skin transplants from transgenic epidermal stem cells on a large body surface area.
"This approach has enormous potential for research into and development of new therapies for the treatment of epidermolysis bullosa as well as other diseases and trauma causing large skin defects" says Tobias Hirsch.
Great results of the treatment
Hassan was treated post-op after the operation, from October in 2015, and was discharged in February the following year. His newly transplanted skin viewed significantly improved healing, and shortly after the transplantation, it was a high-quality, stress-resistant skin without scars. Hassan was soon afterward attending school and other social activities again.
Sources
Epidermolysis Bullosa News
Nature
EurekaAlert!
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