FATE OF BURIED SKIN GRAFTS IN MAN

Present opinion hypothesizes that epithelium-lined cysts often occur from portions of surface epithelium transplanted into the deeper tissues beneath the skin. This transplantation is believed to follow puncture wounds of the palm and fingers, the point of an instrument or tool having carried a small piece of surface epithelium into the deeper tissues. It is assumed that the small piece of epithelium forms an epitheliumlined cyst which is stimulated to active growth by any form of irritating secondary trauma.

Many investigators have performed experiments on animals by burying strips of epidermis and full thickness skin. In these experiments cysts were observed originating from the epidermis and from the hair follicles. In man, so far as is known, the investigation has been limited to the study of traumatic epithelial cysts presumed to result from injury or operative incision. My observations in microscopic examination of skin buried in human beings differ from