Beverly, Mass.  – North Shore Medical Center (NSMC) plastic surgeon Dr. Beverly M. Shafer is collaborating with the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (MTF) to offer patients the opportunity to donate excess skin following body contouring procedures after weight loss.

MTF’s recently instituted living skin donation program provides high quality transplantable skin grafts for patients who need breast reconstruction after mastectomy, abdominal wall repair, and other reconstructive and medical procedures. Before the development of this program the excess skin removed at surgery had been discarded. Now, often a single donation can help multiple patients.

Dr. Shafer recently performed an abdominoplasty on Newburyport resident Nina Esile. Abdominoplasty is a procedure to remove excess skin and re-establish the normal contours of the abdomen after weight loss, and Nina was able to donate her skin to MTF. “After five children and weight loss, my abdomen was very stretched out,” explained Esile. “It is gratifying to me to be able to donate skin that had been such trouble for me, yet will be so useful for someone else.”

The donation process is straight-forward and simple for patients as it is part of the surgical procedure. There is no additional cost to the patient, nor is the patient paid for the skin donation.

“The availability of skin substitutes for reconstructive purposes is a major breakthrough,” says Dr. Shafer. “The new biologic materials are allowing for advancing technology and markedly improved reconstructions.” Dr. Shafer uses the skin substitutes frequently for breast reconstruction after cancer surgery.

MTF is a fully accredited tissue bank by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and is registered by the FDA. Since its inception in 1987, MTF has recovered tissue from more that 60,000 deceased donors and distributed more than 3 million grafts for transplantation with an unrivaled safety record. MTF is dedicated to providing quality tissue through a commitment to excellence in education, research, recovery and care for recipients, donors and their families.

For more information about MTF and to inquire about participation in the Skin Donation Following Weight Loss Program, please visit MTF’s website at www.mtf.org.