Safety and efficacy of transcyte for the treatment of partial-thickness burns

Standard treatment for extensive partial-thickness burns in the United States and in much of the world involves the application of topical antimicrobial agents and repetitive wound débridements and dressing changes. We evaluated a new biologic wound covering, TransCyte (Advanced Tissue Sciences, La Jolla, Calif, formerly marketed as Dermagraft-Transitional Covering), for the treatment of partial-thickness burns. This material is composed of human newborn fibroblasts which are then cultured on the nylon mesh of Biobrane (Dow B. Hickam, Inc, Sugarland, Tex); the thin silicone membrane bonded to the mesh provides a moisture vapor barrier for the wound. A prospective, randomized, comparison study of silver sulfadiazine and TransCyte was performed with the use of paired wound sites on 14 patients. Wounds treated with TransCyte healed more quickly (mean 11.14 days to 90% epithelialization vs 18.14 days, P = .002). A noncomparison evaluation was then done for an additional 18 patients, and it confirmed excellent wound healing and an absence of infections. There were no infections in the 32 wound sites treated with TransCyte. In the first study group, late wound evaluations (3, 6, and 12 months postburn) were performed with use of the Vancouver Scar Scale. The results indicated that wound sites treated with TransCyte healed with less hypertrophic scarring than sites treated with silver sulfadiazine (P < .001 at 3 and 6 months, P = .006 at 12 months).