A scar is an expected result of wound healing. However, in some individuals, and particularly in burn victims, the wound healing processes may lead to a fibrotic hypertrophic scar, which is raised, red, inflexible and responsible for serious functional and cosmetic problems. It seems that a wide array of subsequent processes are involved in hypertrophic scar formation, like an affected haemosta...

Hypertrophic scar is marked by excess collagen accumulation secondary to an increased vascularization response in the scar and an increase in fibroblast cell density. It is currently the most debilitating long-term complication of the surviving burn patient, and at present, there is no routinely effective form of therapy. In this study, we investigated the potential use of antibody-targeted pho...

Pathological cutaneous scars such as keloids and hypertrophic scars (HSs) are characterized by a diffuse redness that is caused by the overgrowth of capillary vessels due to chronic inflammation. Our group has been using long-pulsed, 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser in noncontact mode with low fluence and a submillisecond pulse duration to treat keloids and hypertrophic scars since 2006 with satisfactory r...

BACKGROUND Surgical scars are crucial cosmetic problem, especially when in exposed areas such as the anterior neck following thyroidectomy. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of post-thyroidectomy scars on quality of life (QoL) of thyroid cancer patients and identify the relationship between scar characteristics and QoL. METHODS Patients with post-thyroidectomy scars on the neck were recruite...

BACKGROUND Scars represent the visible sequelae of trauma, injury, burn, or surgery. They may induce distress in the patient because of their aesthetically unpleasant appearance, especially if they are excessively raised, depressed, wide, or erythematous. They may also cause the patient symptoms of pain, tightness, and pruritus. Numerous products are marketed for scar prevention or improvement,...

BACKGROUND Keloids and hypertrophic scars are dermal fibro-proliferative disorders unique to humans. Their treatment is a true challenge with multiple options, but not all the time with good results. Unfortunately this problem is not uncommon in patients with history of burn injury. The aim of this article is to evaluate the use of verapamil and pressure garments in patients with hypertrophic o...

Excessive skin scars due to elective operations or trauma represent a challenging clinical problem. Pathophysiology of hypertrophic scars entails a prolonged inflammatory and proliferative phase of wound healing. Over expression of TGF-β1 and COX-2 play key regulatory roles of the aberrant fibrogenic responses and proinflammatory mediators. When we silenced TGF-β1 and COX-2 expression simultane...

Excessive scars form as a result of aberrations of physiologic wound healing and may arise following any insult to the deep dermis. By causing pain, pruritus and contractures, excessive scarring significantly affects the patient's quality of life, both physically and psychologically. Multiple studies on hypertrophic scar and keloid formation have been conducted for decades and have led to a ple...

Pressure therapy has been considered standard, first-line intervention for the treatment of hypertrophic scars since its introduction in the 1960s. Although widely used, this scar management technique has historically been based on a wide array of anecdotal evidence as opposed to strong scientific support. Evidence has become more prevalent in recent years, necessitating a synthesis to develop ...

In scars arising from burns, objective assessment of vascularity is important in the early identification of pathological scarring, and in the assessment of progression and treatment response. We demonstrate the first clinical assessment and automated quantification of vascularity in cutaneous burn scars of human patients in vivo that uses optical coherence tomography (OCT). Scar microvasculatu...