A SEM OBSERVATION OF THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE MICROVASCULATURE OF SKELETAL MUSCLE / 解剖学报

ABSTRACT

The authors used a microvascular corrosion cast/scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique to study the microvascular bed of the muscles of the medial pterygoid and masseter in two normal babies. The cast were prepared by perfusing the microvascular vessels with methyl methacrylate. Under SEM, the patterns of branches of the arteriole are 1. tree like ramifications; 2. symmetrical branching; 3. fine plexiform branching. Moreover, the casts of arterial and venous vessels showed on their surfaces the typical imprint of the endothelial lining. Therefore, the venous vessels could be easily identified by the round nuclei of the endothelial cells of the venous vessels. On the other side, arteries and arterioles displayed spindle shaped nuclear imprints, oriented along the direction of the vessel. The morphological and functional characterization of the imprint of the precapillary sphincter and the two-grade anastomoses of the arcade arteries. The diameter of the capillary casts (mean?SE) was 5.6?1.9?m. Two or three capillaries join together to form a postcapillary venules, sometimes a single capillary reaches a major venous trunk was observed. These structural features were considered to play an important physiological role in the microcirculation in skeletal muscle.