EXPERIENCE IN THE CONSERVATION OF HUMAN FETAL SKIN FOR SURGICAL THERAPEUTIC TRANSPLANTATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600400676-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 25, 2011
• Sequence Number: 676
• Publication Date: August 11, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION !'0??PZDE:VTSAL G~~FI~ENYIAL
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPOR~
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO EROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY Lr,SSR
SUBJECT Scien+ific - .Medica'.., tissue '?herapy
HOW
PUBLISHED 14?i~?:+hlv periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED N'~scow
DATE
PUBLISHED Aug 14LLN
LANGUAGE
TNIS OOCUYFNT CONTAINS INFORMATION AIFECTIND THE NATIONAL DE FLN S[
O[ THE UNITLD STAT[S WITHIN TN[ YCAXIND 0[ ISAlONAOE ACT t0
Y. S. C.. SI AND S1. AS AY EN p[0. ITS TRAXSYISSION OA TN[ A[VELATION
O[ ITS CONTENTS IN AMT YANN[A TO AN UXAUTXOAIIED AERSON IS FAO
NI SITED [T LAM. R[ARODUOTION O[ TNI! [ORY IS AROHILIi[D.
Kh:t,ur~i`, Ne A, l9ua, np ~Q-?5.,
DATE OF
INFORMATION 19'+8
DATE DIST. ~~ Aug 1.951
N0. OF PAGES 5
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
FKPERIENCE JN 'C~ CONSERVATION OE HUMAPd FEmAL SKIN
__.__~OR. SIlR^vT_^A1, '"HERAPEU7'IC 1.'RANSPLAN'7'ATIOPI~--
[.'"his is a Comm.ut_icat?lotl from +he First Faculty Surgical Clinic,
Omsk hhdical Zrs':i*.ut?e imeni M. T~ Kalinin. !t!ne director of the
::1 i..*..Lic is Frof .M S Rabiaovi.ch _)/
Tn the t?res*,men! oP wounds difficult. +..o heal and other injuries involving
skin damage. autoplasric transplantation of skin,is a s+,andazd procedure When
the firs*. auroolastic tsausnlaa+,Rtion is unsuccessful, it, is often difficult to
fir_d an addi+.ional suaply cP skir. for a second operation of the same type As
far as hoteoplastic t?ransp7.an':ation is r_oncerned, it, can occasionally be carried
eut with connec?.ive tissue T'fibrous connective tissue, tendons, cartilage, and
to some extent? bone)., Homoplastic *ransplantation of skin, on -the other hand,
usually leads to. failure if t:ne skin of adults is used., Eowever, a cer*,ain
Leasure of success has been achieved by transplanting embryonal skin to adults
.Murphy, Poketilo;.. .
Lately USSR surgeons have concentrated on transplantations of skin with
the purpose of stimulating `?he recuperative capacity of the patient's organismo
Homoplastic tranaplantaCions have begun to be used for the therapy of various
pathological processes, including slowly healing skin wounds and ulcers A1- ~
tb.ough the homotransplants usually perish in the process, they introduce into
the organism during their temporary presence substances which stimulate regen-
eration and resorption, and thus expedite the healing of woundsa
ceptionally rich in stimulants of regeneration and cell growtho To sach prod-
emulsions and ointments proposed recently 1944) by Prof La D~ Gol3dberg of
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Acc~rdin?- t?o Filatov, bioaenir. stimulants are formed in +.his process of preserva-
?ion:. They supper.*. the life of tissues in unfavorable surroundings and s??imulate
regeneration prccesses in r..he patient's organism.
Filatov's tissue??h.erapy method has been supplemented by +,he work of Berdi-
chevskiy, Skosogorenko.. Krauze, Ratner, and others It has found practical ap-
plication in many USSR medical. institutions and is considered *.?o be an ex*remely
effec?.ive medical me?.hod. Homotransplanted skin. of live adults and corpses is
usually not assimila'.ed~ Embryonal human and animal tissue (including skin) has
a higher capacity far growth and regeneration and also exerts a stronger s+,imu-
la?ing effect., However it is being applied chi?fly in the form of dead matte r
We asked ourselves how whole, urdsmaged skin of unripe human fetuses (i,e~, tis-
sue whic:b i*.: its proper*.?i.es resembles t.ha+. of embryos) would behave on homoplastic
transplantat.io~e.. From the t?heore+,ical s??andpoint, one must assume tha*_. such skin
mus*.. have a bet?t.er e+fect than ad?l? sY.in which, although imperfectly assimilated,
still heals on temporarily and exert; a stimulating action We undertook our in-
ves*igat.ion t.o confirm.+his a~ssump+ion..
We se*.. rn:,rselvPS the task of investigating the suitability of "+:mbryon.Pl"
skin !acual.ly fetal skin obtained from fetuses 3-9 months old) for effet.ti.
transplarta+,ions, of testing the possibility of preserving ?his skin, and of
det?ermin.ing its properties as a material for plastic surgery in skin injuries
as we 1.. as those in connection with its action as a biological stimulant in
treating slowly healing wounds and ulcers. .
lJe first carried out a wall e_+rper.lment on.conserving the skin of animals.
Py consirting ?he skin of adul+ rabbits for 12 days in rabbit blood serum at. a
low temperature, we found that? the skin is Excellently preserved and remains
alive, Such skir. may heal on ?emperarily in subsequent. autotransplantations and
homotransplantati.ons.
We decided to use conserved rather than fresh human embryonal skin in our
transplantations for *?.he following reasons. First, a Wasserman test must be car.-
ried out on the skin which is to be *.rar.splarted, and this alone necessitates
storage for several davs.. Second, .we kept, ir. mind .Fi.1at?ov's thesis that co.n-
serva?.for. enhanr_es the stimulating effec of the tissue.-? In addition, we wanted
to find out whe *. her t?he t.issue's ability to heal on can be influenced by con-
servation..
We first tried t.o det?ermine whether human. embryonal skin stands conservation
We started with an i.rvestigat?ior, cf the normal st;ruct?ure of the skin of human
fetuses 3-9 months ol.d. Embryonal sY.in for it?s laves+.,igation in the normal (as
distinguished from the conserved) state was taken after preliminary treatment of
it with an 0.`,~~f solut?..on r:P ammonia or with alcohol followed by rinsing with a phy-
siological NaCI solu+,ion~ The same t.rea?~nt. was applied in preparing the skin
for conservation. After fixation wirh 10'~ formalin, the skin was covered with
iellcdin~ Staining, of the sect-ions was carr:_.. cut? with hematoxilin-eosin by
van Gieson?s me+.hed.
The skin of human fetuses differs considerably in structure from that of
adults In the first 2 months of life, the? human embryo`s skin is a thin epithe-
1ia1 covering consisting of t?we layers of cells. 'Phis covering adjoins the un-
derlying cone=dive tissue in a straight plane devoid of nipples. During the
first few months of the embryo's life, the skin is a gel-like mass containing a
large number of round cells. Inter these cells are transformed into spindle-
shaped ce1.1s. As the fe+.us develops further, gradual thickening of its =piths-?
lie) cover takes place at the expense of growth of cells of the lower epithelial
layer and gradual pressing out of t?he newly formed Dells to the surfaces The
cells transferred to +,he surface gradually flatten out, but do not at first un-
dergo cornification, which begins only with the second part of? the embryonal life
The whole skin of human fetuses up to the age of 4 months is very thin, reddish,
and translucent, so that the well-developed network of blood vessels cam be seen
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through it. A# t:~lis period of life, there are n>ither sweat nor fat pi~.rnls nor
hair in tY.e skin of human fetuses Hair begins to de~ielop at? the age of about
4 m_.r.t,e by energetic. yuLt.ip-:.icar.lurl c,f c~ ia~ 1C1 __: sails :egioli~ of '?he epi-
dermis and reaches the sUk'I-9Ce of the'skiu on tine fifth month of life in the
womb . At tY:e ea_ro= ti2~e, sweat. and fat plands and skin. ni.ppl.es begin to form,
and corns?'i~a+ioh begins in the upper. epidermis layers., The skin loses its
gel-like qualit;y, becomes morn dense, and graduall.,y begins t:o resemble t?.he
skin of adults in appearance .and structure.
Taking inro c.or.sideraticn sflr'. peculiars?ies of this young, unde?.~eloped
human skit, ahic'h. forms in thx+.rr.? cn f,he lndi~~idua.i peculiars*ies of the fetal skin..
Ir, a r:.,.,mhe.r ~f cases where ;:onsidFrable deficiencies in the conditions of
conservation r.xist 'such as an uns?ead;,~ r.emperat.ure of oonservat.ion which is ^ot
.low enough, :Into placirg of pieces of ,kin into fihe plasma, transference of pieces
of skin from one vessel in?:o another, eLC.I, embryonal human skin is still pre;
served well, showing ids considerable stsbility and vitality Summarizing the
results of our macroscopic and microscopic abservations, we conclude that. under
our e.rperimer_tal condi+i~ns embryonal human. skin does not change perceptibly and
remains suitable for *. ransplanTa?1r"!6 during %-2; weeks of corservatior.. Even
whet. degenerative changes s+.art in `?he conserved embryonal skin., with the result
that i+s surface sayers de'Friorate, conae~-t?i.ve tissue with the hair follicles
and g'_ands included ir. i* ^e?.air, in?ac+.. T'he basal cells of the epidermis also
remain.~maffe~-ed ir. spew . 's'he preserved part of embryonal skin which remains
is perfectly suitable fog c!in.ical use.
It is eossible t.ha~ in aub_:e+~uen# investigations more favorable conditions
fnr th? cer,.serva?i~ro of Pmbry~?nal human skin. will be foun3~ By using ano*her
medium. for =onservatio_ and fir.:ling a hett,er storage temperature, it may b? po -
sibla tv ex+er_d *he !oaximum period. during which the conserved skin can be utill~ed..
FI'OT, a purely arac*~ical. sr..andpoint?. we consider our results adequa*.e as k'ar as +~
appl.icatior.?s ie ~1i~.ica1 medicine which involve t?ransolar..tatioals and require heal-
ing?on of Lhe ~ransplan*?~ are concerned. 's'he skin is p.~eserved sufficiently long
and dies only gre.dually when 5?ore~l for ara excessive period of time., This con-
cl.usio.r. is b^rne out. by results obtained from ar_t.ual clinical transplantatSons
which we made nu pa+ier.':?s,using skit, which we had conserved as described
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