title: Osteomyocutaneous flap as a preclinical composite tissue allograft: swine model.
abstract: Composite tissue allotransplantation (CTA) constitutes one of the last frontiers of microsurgery. Prior to its clinical application, the long-term efficacy of modern immunotherapy must be tested in a pre-clinical CTA model. Based on the concept of osteomyocutaneous forearm flap, we developed a CTA flap model in swine. After identifying the vascular territory of the flaps in six pigs (vascular casting), flaps were transplanted from mismatched donor to recipient pigs (n = 6). Rejection was assessed daily by visual inspection and histopathology of biopsy specimens. Recipient pigs were able to ambulate immediately following surgery. There were no flap failures owing to technical or surgical complications. Rejection occurred over a period of 7 days as manifested by edema, cellular infiltration, epidermalysis, and thrombosis. This pre-clinical flap model is excellent for evaluating the effectiveness of modern immunotherapy because it is anatomically and immunologically relevant and because the minimal morbidity caused to the animal permits long-term studies.
authors.affiliation: Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY 40292, USA.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Shirbacheh
authors.forename: E T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Ustüner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zdichavsky
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Edelstein
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maldonado
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Breidenbach
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frank
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Tobin
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Barker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D013524:Surgical Flaps / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D013552:Swine; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous