Microvascular anastomosis in oral and maxillofacial surgery: a comparative study of recipient artery between Japanese and German patients.
The causes of unsuccessful microsurgery include pre-existing histopathological changes in the recipient vascular wall. Medical history, preoperative therapy, and life background such as aging may have complex effects on the morbid state of recipient vessels. Focusing on these points, specimens of recipient vessels were obtained at the microsurgery of the oral and maxillofacial regions, and the condition of the arterial wall was analyzed pathologically. This study was performed in both Japan and Germany simultaneously, and the results are compared between the two countries. A higher percentage and a more advanced abnormality of the artery seem to exist in the German patients than in the Japanese patients. This difference could be due to the severe preoperative multimodal chemo- and radio-therapy more often applied in Germany and the higher incidences of systemic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes as well as of smoking in German population. The success rate of the surgery is, however, the same in both countries. It could be concluded that the viability of the flaps was not affected directly by preoperative damage to the recipient artery.