title: Free microneurovascular muscle grafts: deficits resulting from transplantation and speculations for myocardial repair.
abstract: Muscle homograft transplantation and transposition have been performed to the heart, yet little data is available on the functional and structural changes after "simple transposition" of the latissimus dorsi (LD) muscle to the thoracic wall. Our aim was to compare the results of transplantation and transposition of the same muscle under experimental conditions. Five LD muscles were transposed to the anterior thoracic wall on an intact neurovascular pedicle. Five LD muscles were transplanted to the rectus femoris muscle site in the leg with microvascular techniques. Five control LD muscles were examined morphologically and functionally. The force measurements displayed a significant reduction in both experimental groups compared to control. The nearly 70% preservation of maximum isometric tension and the higher resistance to fatigue in the transplant support the concept of microneurovascular muscle transplantation to the heart. The experimental data also indicate that LD transpositions experience a significant reduction in force and mean fiber area despite an intact neural support.
authors.affiliation: Catholic University Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Guelinckx
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002302:Cardiac Output / Q000502:physiology; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000601:surgery*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D009132:Muscles / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation*; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology; D011817:Rabbits; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000379:methods* / Q000502:physiology