Lausanne laboratory cultivates skin for Crans-Montana fire victims

Since the fire disaster in Crans-Montana, the Center for Cell Production has been receiving an increasing number of inquiries. The laboratory has never experienced such a flurry of activity before.

"We were contacted very quickly, as early as Friday, January 2," said biologist Stéphanie Droz-Georget, who is responsible for production at the laboratory, to the Keystone-SDA news agency.

Biologist Stéphanie Droz-Georget and her colleagues help the victims of the Vrans-Montana fire.

KEYSTONE

A piece of healthy skin from a patient treated at Lausanne University Hospital (Chuv) was brought to the center to grow tissue that can later be transplanted.

After two to three weeks, around 2600 square centimetres of tissue will have grown from the small piece of skin cultivated in a cell culture. This is roughly equivalent to the surface area of a human back, as Droz-Georget explains.

Strictly speaking, not skin

Strictly speaking, these tissues are not skin. "They have no pores, and they also lack hair," emphasizes the biologist. However, as they are produced from the cells of the severely burned patient themselves, there is no risk of rejection. The only risk is that, in rare cases, the transplant may not grow.

After production, the tissue is in the form of thin, translucent, rectangular layers. These small "sheets", as Droz-Georget calls them, are placed on the damaged areas of the patient's skin. Once they have grown, they remain in place for life. The treatment can be repeated after a few years.

Skin grown for 11 burn victims so far

To date, the Chuv Cell Production Center has had to deal with skin samples from eleven victims of the devastating fire in a bar on Silver Star night. Further requests in connection with the tragedy are still expected.

The current situation is putting an extraordinary strain on the center. "Under normal circumstances, we receive between 15 and 25 requests a year," says Droz-Georget. The start of the year was also very emotionally stressful. However, the laboratory teams mobilized spontaneously and as one.

Unique in Europe

The Chuv cell production center is the only one of its size in Europe. Its procedures have been approved by the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products Swissmedic. In addition to skin cells, cells such as cartilage cells can also be cultivated in the laboratory.

The laboratory in Epalinges near Lausanne, which receives requests from all over Europe, is generally used for people who have suffered burns to at least 40 percent of their skin surface. Many of the victims of Crans-Montana had burns to more than 60 percent of their body.