The treatment of ulcers in patients with mycosis fungoides with split-thickness skin grafts.

Five patients have recently been treated at this institution for skin ulcerations caused by mycosis fungoides and its treatment with total body electron beam radiation therapy. Both the disease and its treatment can injure epidermal appendages as well as the blood supply to the skin. As a result of this potential damage, there was initial concern that skin grafts might not take and donor sites might not heal in these patients. Though skin grafting has not been universally successful, we have been able to skin graft the majority of the ulcerated lesions in these patients with good results. Donor sites have healed, though more slowly than usual. Skin grafting can be effective for treating ulcers in patients who have undergone total body electron beam radiation therapy for mycosis fungoides.