Pyoderma gangrenosum and dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane: a potential tool for an orphan disease

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is an often-misdiagnosed, painful, inflammatory and ulcerative skin disorder. It is an orphan disease, where standard wound treatments such as sharp surgical debridement are contraindicated. This retrospective case series sought to evaluate the application of dehydrated human amnion/chorion membrane (DHACM) as a skin substitute in cases that were refractory to a range of standard-of-care techniques.

This retrospective case series involved wounds which failed to close with standard escalating treatments, including anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive therapies. Subjects were transitioned to DHACM and wound sizes were monitored until closure.

Wounds (n=5) for all three subjects had stalled with standard therapies for at least 2.5 months but responded quickly to routinely applied DHACM treatments, and closure was achieved in each case.

This retrospective pilot case series examined the use of DHACM as an alternative wound treatment for PG patients failing standard therapies. DHACM treatments re-initiated the trajectory towards wound closure for each stalled PG ulcer. The results suggest a treatment algorithm starting with early recognition, wound closure via treatment escalation, and lastly a gradual reduction in treatment for durable closure. DHACM treatment should be formally evaluated as an adjunct to PG ulcers that have remained refractory to more commonly used immunomodulating therapies.