Ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery
-
Ophthal Plast Reconstr Surg · Sep 2017
An Anatomical Murine Model of Heterotopic Periorbital Subunit Transplantation.
Conventional reconstructive methods fail to achieve satisfactory results in total eyelid defect cases. Vascularized composite tissue allotransplantation might provide both good appearance and function for these patients. The structure of the eyelid is exceptional because it simultaneously consists of skin, connective tissue, the striated muscle, fiber structure, aponeuroses, and mucosa. Thus, before clinical application of eyelid allotransplantation, more experiments are needed to clarify the impact of ischemia, immunal suppressive agents, and deinnervation effects on these sophisticated structures. We developed an heterotopic periorbital transplantation model in rats to facilitate further experiment in this field. ⋯ Our study proved the anatomical feasibility of periorbital transplantation by establishing a heterotopic transplantation model, which might facilitate future eyelid allotransplantation-related experiments.