Securing intraoral skin grafts to the floor of the mouth: case report and technique desription.

In this report, we describe an innovative bolstering technique that resulted in successful skin graft take to the floor of the mouth when the teeth and alveolus were unavailable for anchorage.

Whole-eye transplantation: a look into the past and vision for the future.

Blindness afflicts ~39 million people worldwide. Retinal ganglion cells are unable to regenerate, making this condition irreversible in many cases. Whole-eye transplantation (WET) provides the opportunity to replace diseased retinal ganglion cells, as well as the entire optical system and surrounding facial tissue, if necessary. Recent success in face transplantation demonstrates that this may be a promising treatment for what has been to this time an incurable condition. An animal model for WET must be established to further enhance our knowledge of nerve regeneration, immunosuppression, and technical aspects of surgery. A systematic review of the literature was performed to evaluate studies describing animal models for WET. Only articles in which the eye was completely enucleated and reimplanted were included. Study methods and results were compared. In the majority of published literature, WET can result in recovery of vision in cold-blooded vertebrates. There are a few instances in which mammalian WET models demonstrate survival of the transplanted tissue following neurovascular anastomosis and the ability to maintain brief electroretinogram activity in the new host. In this study we review in cold-blooded vertebrates and mammalian animal models for WET and discuss prospects for future research for translation to human eye transplantation.

Composite tissue vasculopathy and degeneration following multiple episodes of acute rejection in reconstructive transplantation.

Transplant vasculopathy has not been systematically investigated in composite tissue allotransplantation (CTA). The impact of multiple acute rejections (ARs) on long-term graft outcomes in reconstructive transplantation remains unknown. This study in a rat hind-limb allotransplantation model systematically analyzes vasculopathy and tissue-specific pathological changes secondary to multiple AR episodes. LEW rats were transplanted with BN rat hind limbs and treated as follows: Group 1 (Iso): isografts. Group 2 (CsA): Cyclosporine (CsA) qd; Group 3 (mult AR): CsA and dexamethasone only when AR was observed. No AR was observed in Groups 1 and 2. Multiple AR were observed in Group 3, and each episode was completely reversed (clinically) with pulsed CsA + dexamethasone treatment. Group 3 animals demonstrated significant vascular lesions along with skin and muscle atrophy, upregulation of profibrotic gene expression and fibrosis when compared to Groups 1 and 2. In addition, allograft bone was sclerotic, weak and prone to malunion and nonunion. Interestingly, vasculopathy was a late finding, whereas muscle atrophy with macrophage infiltration was seen early, after only a few AR episodes. Taken together, multiple AR episodes lead to vasculopathy and tissue-specific pathology in CTA. This is the first evidence of 'composite tissue vasculopathy and degeneration (CTVD)' in CTA.

Dendritic cell therapy in composite tissue allotransplantation.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are bone marrow-derived, professional antigen-presenting cells, with inherent tolerogenic function. The ability of immature or maturation-resistant DCs to regulate alloantigen-specific T-cell responses and to promote tolerance induction has been well demonstrated in organ and bone marrow transplantation. Recent data suggest that DCs can also promote long-term survival of composite tissue allografts in the absence of continued immunosuppressive drug therapy.

Investigation of antibody-mediated rejection in composite tissue allotransplantation in a rat limb transplant model.

BACKGROUND: Despite the widely accepted implication of antidonor antibodies and complement in solid organ transplantation, their role in reconstructive allotransplantation is not clear. The aim of this study was to analyze the humoral immune response using a rat orthotopic limb transplantation model. METHODS: We used the Brown Norway to Lewis rat orthotopic hind-limb transplant model: Group 1, isografts; group 2, allografts with daily continuous cyclosporine treatment to prevent acute rejection; and group 3, allografts undergoing multiple episodes of acute rejection. Samples were taken at 30, 60, and 90 days. Serum was analyzed by FACS for antidonor antibodies. Tissue deposition of antibodies and complement was investigated by immunofluorescence. RESULTS: By day 90, animals in group 3 had undergone 19 (+/-3.2) acute rejection episodes. There was no difference in the occurrence of serum antidonor antibodies between the three groups at any time point. However, at 90 days, anti-third-party antibodies were significantly greater among group 3. There was no difference in antibody or complement deposition in muscles between the 3 groups. CONCLUSION: Despite the increased antibody against a third party after multiple rejection episodes in this animal model, there was no clear evidence of an antibody-mediated alloresponse in limb transplantation.

A finite-element model predicts thermal damage in cutaneous contact burns.

Thermal injury results from exposure of skin elements to an externally applied heat source. Finite-element analysis of heat transfer in cutaneous burns allows for an accurate prediction of tissue time-temperature relationships throughout the exposed tissue. A two-dimensional, axisymmetric, finite-element model of a contact burn was constructed, and damage integrals were calculated by applying the Arrhenius equation to the time-temperature profiles at each point. The epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous fat were modeled as uniform elements with distinct thermal properties. Heated aluminum blocks were applied to Yorkshire pigs for 10 to 80 seconds to produce contact burns. Wound biopsies taken at 1, 24, and 48 hours were examined histologically and measured for the depth of burn. A significant deepening of the gelatinized tissue was observed in tissue taken from 1 hour to 24 hours. The finite-element prediction of cutaneous contact burn damage correlated well with histologic observations in this porcine model.