title: Early Axonal Area Measurement Predicts Early Nerve Regeneration Outcomes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Study of peripheral nerve injury and regeneration in laboratory animals can be time consuming and expensive. This study determines if it is possible to reduce time and cost for a peripheral nerve regeneration study.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine if nerve axonal area (NXA) or nerve fiber counting (NFC) correlates with compound muscle action potential (CMAP) recovery which is known to predict functional muscular recovery in the early stage of nerve regeneration.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, six rats had a crush injury of the sciatic nerve without treatment. These rats were evaluated at 4 weeks of recovery with the following assessments: CMAP readings from the extensor digitorum longus, NXA measurement, and NFC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  NXA correlated with CMAP; NFC did not correlate with CMAP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NFC is not a reliable method for predicting muscular recovery in the early stages. NXA is a dependable assessment for muscular recovery in the early stages of nerve regeneration. Using NXA measurement can predict later electrophysiological and functional recovery. Using NXA with CMAP measurement for nerve injury, repair, and treatment in the animal study can save cost and time.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Neilson
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Yuhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Lin-Ling
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Ziyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Agresti
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Hani
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matloub
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
authors.forename: Ji-Gheng
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Yan
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008297:Male; D009409:Nerve Crush; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000293:injuries*