New hope for pediatric burn scars using Israeli lasers

Mira from Jerusalem was severely burned in a bus fire when she was seven. But despite the loss of an eye, an arm, both ears and most of one foot, six years later Mira is not only alive but smiling. Recently she became the first patient to be treated in the I-PEARLS (Israel Pediatric Aesthetic and Reconstructive Laser Surgery) Center of Excellence at Sheba Medical Center under the direction of world-renowned burn specialists Josef Haik and Arie Orenstein. One of few of its kind anywhere and the first in the Middle East, the pediatric center uses Israeli-developed lasers including carbon dioxide (CO2) ablative lasers to safely and effectively reduce the devastating impact of scars in burned children like Mira, regardless of their ability to pay.

Sheba’s National Burn Center

While the scars cannot be removed completely, laser treatments can improve their appearance dramatically by diminishing their size, stiffness and discoloration. Haik, director of Sheba’s National Burn Center, and Orenstein, chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery, have long experience treating burn scars with CO2 lasers in Sheba’s operating rooms. As part of the National Burn Center, I-PEARLS reflects new capabilities in treating pediatric burn scars. Financed by US-based Burn Advocates Network, which runs an annual burn camp for children in Israel, I-PEARLS will enable Sheba to treat more and younger children from Israel and from other countries. Just as importantly, it will be a center for research, training and sharing of Israeli expertise abroad – something Haik does regularly in places such as Romania, Cameroon, Congo, Haiti and Guatemala. -- More...