Therapeutic Effects of Pregnancy on a Chronic Skin Ulcer

Objectives: Sex hormones strongly influence skin physiology and evidences suggest wound healing as well. Estrogens establish a prohealing setting, and androgens play an antagonist role. Methods and Results: We present the case of a young woman in whom pregnancy with its associated hormonal shifts allowed the spontaneous healing of a chronic wound on the left leg with bone exposure, which had followed a car accident and had resisted medical and surgical treatments for 5 years. Discussion: Systemic or topical estrogens may offer alternative options in the therapy of chronic wounds, in particular in the elderly adults who have physiologically reduced estrogens levels.