The restoration of the vasculature of skin autografts in the rabbit.
The restoration of the vasculature of full-thickness skin autografts was investigated on the rabbit ear, the grafted discs of skin being replaced with their original orientation, or rotated 90 or 180 degrees. Circulation in the graft was first detected 1 day after grafting, increasing on the 2nd and successive days. The larger arteries in the grafts survived and became permanently joined at the periphery of the grafts to adjacent severed arteries in the host by well-defined and often tortuous segments termed junction vessels. The pre-operative vascular pattern was re-established when grafts were replaced without rotation but comparable survival of arteries also occurred when the grafted discs of skin were rotated. In most grafts, the segment of artery became stabilized by 4-9 weeks; more than 75% of the length of the arterial segments survived in 83% of grafts, with minimal accompanying histological changes in their walls. There was some increase in number and aborization of small vessels in the established grafts, although the vascular pattern was essentially similar to that of unoperated skin. The factors possibly involved in the survival of the large arteries in the grafts include the relative rigidity of the arterial wall, the early establishment of circulation, and the favourable haemodynamic position of the grafts.