Skin flaps in transplant
What is a skin flap?
A flap is the name for a patch of skin that is transplanted with its blood supply.
Why is it called a sentinel skin FLAP?
A SENTINEL skin flap is a patch of skin taken from the same donor as the organ transplant that is transplanted onto the recipient at the same time.
In the sentinel study
In this study, all patients will receive the lung transplant as routine care, with half also receiving a skin flap transplant.
We hope that the skin transplant will act as a rejection monitor warning of possible rejection and helping to avoid rejection injury to the lungs.
In the future we may be able to reduce the number of hospital visits and tests patients would need to undergo, and even reduce the immunosuppression drug dose.
Have SENTINEL skin flaps been studied before?
SENTINEL skin flaps (SSFs) were first used in a study involving intestinal transplants. In this study, we discovered that the skin displayed a visible rash between 1-10 days before the transplant was rejected.
The skin also guarded against rejection: The rate of organ rejection dropped from 80% to 25% in patients who had a SSF.
This has also been seen in pancreas and kidney transplant patients who received an SSF. Some patients found they did not need routine biopsies or tests for rejection, and when the skin indicated there was rejection, they could increase their medication.