95% burns, 1% chance of survival... then saved by a world first skin transplant from his twin
A BURNS victim who suffered catastrophic injuries across 95 per cent of his body has been saved in a world-first skin transplant from his twin.
Doctors had never managed to graft so much skin on to one patient before. They put their success down to the fact the twins are genetically identical, meaning the transplant was not rejected.
Franck Dufourmantelle, 33, was turned into a human torch after chemicals caught fire in the factory where he worked near Amiens, north of Paris. The 33-yearold was given a 1 per cent chance of survival before his brother Eric volunteered to have 50 per cent of his skin removed.
‘There are no words to describe what my brother has done for me,’ Franck said. ‘To save me he suffered, too. I owe him my life. His body was raw. My brother’s a hero. It’s hard to take on board that I’m wearing his skin.’
A week after the accident last September, the team took grafts from Eric’s thigh and scalp, and then four days later, took skin from his back. When doctors took half of Eric’s skin they only removed the top layers so it would grow back. Grafts up to 10cm wide were stretched on rollers to double their size so there would be enough to cover Franck, before being transplanted in 12 operations.
In most burns surgery, the skin of an unrelated dead donor is grafted on to the victim. But it is often rejected within weeks despite the effects of strong immunosuppressant drugs.
Professor Maurice Mimoun, the doctor who operated on Franck at Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris, said
‘It was a ray of light in this catastrophe’
the medical team was given hope when they discovered the brothers were genetically identical.
He added: ‘It was a ray of light in this catastrophe. His chances of survival were minimal. But when I learned that Franck had an identical twin, the skies lifted. Their genetic make-up is identical. It’s as if it were his own skin.”
Identical twin- on-twin transplants mean no immunosuppressants are needed and the grafts are highly unlikely to be rejected.
Although they have taken place before, none has been anything like as extensive. Franck said: ‘I had a 1 per cent chance of survival, but my brother refused to believe it. He told the doctors he wanted to give me his skin.’
Fourteen months after the accident, Franck is still having physiotherapy, but is able to walk, write and no longer needs painkillers.
Eric has been left with few scars. Professor Mimoun said: ‘All one can see is a slight difference in the pigmentation.’ Eric added: ‘It’s nothing compared to what my brother went through. For me it was like a huge scratch. It turned into crusts and then healed up. I took three months off work. Today, it’s like having sunburn.’
The news follows the announcement two weeks ago that German scientists had completely replaced the skin on a seven-year-old boy after growing it in the lab.
The youngster had a genetic condition known as butterfly disease, which meant the slightest touch made his skin peel away.