Keloid and hypertrophic scars: trace element alteration.

The state of excessive fibroblastic proliferation for wound healing results in hypertrophic and keloid scars. It has been well established that some of the trace elements (such as zinc) are essential in wound healing, and there are appreciable changes in trace elements in various disease states. The levels of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), and selenium (Se) in serum, normal skin and scar of 40 keloid and hypertrophic scar patients were assessed. There was a significant increase of manganese (Mn) level in skin of burn, trauma, and surgical incision patients compared to controls with p < 0.0013, p < 0.0001, and p < 0.046, respectively. Furthermore, the zinc, copper, and selenium contents of the skin in incision patients were decreased significantly when compared to other groups. No significant changes occurred regarding serum levels of zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium in the different groups. From this study, no relationships between the hypertrophic and keloid scar to trace elements were found; however, because of the limited numbers of patients, a definite conclusion could not be drawn.