title: In vivo visualization of the neuromuscular junction before and after autologous nerve transfer in the rat.
abstract: In vivo visualization of the neuromuscular junction with epifluorescence imaging techniques has become a successful method of observing the ongoing process of re-occupation by regenerating motor axons of former post-synaptic sites after nerve injury. By using a light-integrating video camera for digital documentation, all parts of the neuromuscular junction can be visualized, as detailed as when documented with high-speed film, but with a minimum light intensity to prevent damage of neural or muscular structures. Results from comparisons of pre- and post-synaptic staining indicate a non-reoccupation rate up to 37 percent at a 55-day interval after nerve transfer, and up to 34 percent at a 66-day postoperative interval. Morphologic findings suggest that these high non-reoccupation rates are caused jointly by intramuscular missprouting, an insufficient intramuscular guidance apparatus, and intramuscular microneuroma formation at the insufficient neuromuscular junction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Nordstadt Hospital, Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Penkert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D016067:Nerve Transfer; D009469:Neuromuscular Junction / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013979:Tibial Nerve / Q000502:physiology / Q000601:surgery*