First ever burn treatment conducted in Hamilton being called a miracle

A first-ever burn treatment in Hamilton is being called a miracle.

Hamilton Health Sciences burn experts are the first in the world to use a biological treatment to save the face of a young woman who was severely burned in a London, Ontario house fire last December.

The treatment used exosomes, which are tiny particles released by cells that carry signals from one cell to another to help coordinate rapid healing and tissue repair and reduce inflammation.

The particles are collected, typically from lab-grown cells, and injected into the injured areas to accelerate healing, as opposed to skin grafting, which can leave scarring and a patch-like appearance.

Exosomes have been studied for years as part of burn research, but not yet in humans.

Clinical trials involving humans have used exosomes for other types of wound healing, with promising results.

18-year-old Western University student Kaitlin Jeffrey received the treatment.

“My vision for Kaitlin was to avoid skin graft surgery to her face and neck at any cost”, says Dr. Marc Jeschke, vice president of research and innovation at HHS.

Jeschke received approval by Health Canada to try the procedure.

Jeffrey’s two treatments, which took place several days apart, used one trillion exosomes sourced from the United States.

“You can do the best graft on the planet, but you won’t return the skin to normal. And, for a young person, a skin graft to the face and neck can be absolutely devastating”, he says.

Jeffrey is calling the results a miracle, saying being hurt in the fire had a deep impact to her mental health, but having such good results, particularly to her face, is helping her move forward.”

With further research, Jeschke hopes the world-first treatment will become the new standard of care for burn patients in Canada and beyond.

“Like Dr. Jeschke, my family and I would love to see exosome therapy become the standard of care for patients like myself in Canada, so that when horrific things happen, it doesn’t change people’s lives forever,” says Jeffrey.

Story credit: Bonnie Heslop

Image credit: Hamilton Health Sciences