Frozen preservation of human amnion and its use as a burn wound dressing.

A method of freezing and sterilizing the human amnion enabled it to be stored at -60 degrees C for more than six months. The membranes were obtained from twenty-four cesarean section mothers without a history of endometritis, premature rupture of their membranes or a positive serology. The elongation and break strength of the membranes were evaluated before and after storage. The membranes as prepared have been utilized on twenty-two wounds of ten burn patients. The results indicate that amnion is quite safe and effective as a biological dressing using this preservation method.