Bioengineered Skin and Wound Healing

This study will look at whether a graft of bioengineered skin (BSC), known commercially as Apligraf, stimulates the healing process in a person's own skin at the edge of a wound (known as the edge effect). The information from this study will provide a better understanding of the ways that grafts of bioengineered skin help the healing of chronic wounds. We will assign study participants to either the bioengineered skin group or the control group. People in the control group will receive compression therapy with a multilayered compression bandage. We will examine each participant before starting treatment and then once a week for 24 weeks or until the wound heals. On the first day of treatment (day 0) and at week 3, week 6, and week 24 (end of treatment) we will take a small tissue sample from the wound for a biopsy. After the wound is completely healed, we will ask the patient to return once a month for 6 months to make sure the wound stays healed.