Abstract
In this paper we investigate the possibility of creating an animal model for hypertrophic scar formation by grafting healthy split thickness human skin onto the backs of athymic nude mice and then burning the grafts. We were able to show that the human tissue grafts do remain stable over extended periods and prove that the human dermis does not get infiltrated by mouse tissue. By burning the grafts for ten seconds at 70°C we found that we could not reproduce results previously reported; but by changing the burn parameters we were able to produce regions of dermal disorder that may indicate the formation of hypertrophic scar. These results represent the first replication of positive results using this animal model since it was first proposed 10 years ago.
