Histologic study of a freeze-dried skin allograft in a human. A case report.

HISTOLOGIC EXAMINATION at 6 weeks of a freeze-dried skin (FDS) allograft used to treat a mucogingival defect in the human revealed a striking prominence of elastic fibers within the graft, when compared to the adjacent gingiva and alveolar mucosa. This finding suggests that these fibers were retained from the donor material. The absence of a significant inflammatory infiltrate and the clinically normal healing that was observed indicates that FDS allografts are biocompatible with human oral tissue.