Morphologic changes in forearm flaps of the oral cavity.
OBJECTIVE
This study was undertaken to investigate the morphologic changes in the forearm flap in the oral environment.


METHODS
Histologic evaluation of biopsy specimens from 20 forearm flaps was done 1 to 75 months after intraoral reconstruction after treatment of cancer. Hematoxylin and eosin and Azan were used to stain the deparaffinized sections.


RESULTS
The clinical features of the grafted flap seemed to depend on the time since the operation. The cornified layer of the epidermis of the flaps showed thinning histologically.


CONCLUSIONS
After 11 months of exposure to an intraoral environment, "mucosalization" of the forearm flap is evident.
Shibahara
T
T
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tokyo Dental College, Chiba, Japan. sibahara@tdc.ac.jp
Noma
H
H
Takeda
E
E
Hashimoto
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005542:Forearm; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000601:surgery; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures; D012867:Skin / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000502:physiology; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology