Autogenous free muscle grafts and regeneration in rabbits: a preliminary laboratory study.
From a preliminary study using the flexor digitorum superficialis muscle as an orthotopic free graft in the rabbit forelimb it appears that: (1) viable muscle fibers can be consistently identified in the recipient area, varying from 20 to 100 percent of the normal total fiber count of the FDS graft: (2) viable muscle fibers following grafting appear to be the result of the process of regeneration rather than of survival of original graft fibers; and (3) young rabbits appear to have greater regenerative potential compared with mature rabbits.
D000818:Animals; D005552:Forelimb / Q000601:surgery*; D006085:Graft Survival; D009132:Muscles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology / Q000637:transplantation*; D011817:Rabbits; D012038:Regeneration; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous