The Potential of Fibrinolytic Therapy for Patients with Skin Disorders

Abstract

Fibrin deposition is a major feature of the pathological findings in certain skin disorders including the stasis syndrome, cutaneous vasculitis and dermatitis herpetiformis. Depression of tissue fibrinolysis has been described in these disorders. This paper reviews the potential usefulness of fibrinolytic therapy for the above disorders and describes an animal model of a sloughing ulcer based on vascular damage which emulates the changes found in stasis. Topical streptokinase and streptodornase application was found to improve the rate of healing in the animal model and work is under way to assess other fibrinolytic agents including stanozolol.