LEECHES can save failing skin transplants. The therapy was successful in all 15 patients on whom it was tested.
Surgery to remove a tumour of the head or neck can leave a gaping hole, which must be covered by tissue from other parts of the body. But poor blood flow can result in the death of the transplanted tissue. So Douglas Chepeha’s team at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor tried using leeches, approved as a “medical device” by the US Food and Drug Administration last month, to drain off old blood and thus help induce the growth of…
