Human amniotic membrane in the management of chronic venous leg ulcers

Background. - The aim of our paper is to examine changes in the use of human amniotic membrane for venous leg ulcers through clinical studies and to present different models of tissue engineering employing human amniotic membrane for the purpose of future therapeutic use in wound healing. Materials and methods. - This review is based on information obtained from a PubMed search using the following keywords Amnion[Mesh] AND Leg Ulcer[Mesh]; Amnion[Mesh] AND Dermatology[Mesh]. The selected articles are in English or French and deal with the sole use of human amniotic membrane in venous leg ulcers alone. Results. - Human amniotic membrane has a positive impact on chronic venous leg ulcers by promoting granulation tissue formation, reducing fibrosis and inducing re-epithelialisation. Nevertheless, further randomized clinical studies are needed. At the same time, tissue engineering models using human amniotic membrane may help to reduce wound healing time, thereby creating renewed interest in the use of human amniotic membrane. Conclusion. - Considering its properties and the clinical studies analysed, human amniotic membrane could be useful in venous leg ulcer care. (C) 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.