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Assessment of microcirculatory influence on cellular morphology in human burn wound healing using reflectance‐mode‐confocal microscopy
Author(s) -
Altintas Ahmet Ali,
Altintas Mehmet Ali,
Ipaktchi Kyros,
Guggenheim Merlin,
Theodorou Pauangiotis,
Amini Peymaneh,
Spilker Gerald
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
wound repair and regeneration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.847
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1524-475X
pISSN - 1067-1927
DOI - 10.1111/j.1524-475x.2009.00516.x
Subject(s) - microcirculation , medicine , wound healing , confocal microscopy , burn wound , confocal laser scanning microscopy , confocal , pathology , surgery , biomedical engineering , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , geometry , mathematics
Previous studies have assessed the effects of changes in microcirculation on wound healing; however, the influence of microcirculation on tissue histomorphology remains widely unknown. Reflectance‐mode‐confocal microscopy (RMCM) enables in vivo tissue observation on a cellular level. We present RMCM data evaluating the local microcirculation and assess the influence on histomorphology during burn healing. RMCM was performed in 12 patients (aged; 36.2±14.2 years, maximum‐burn‐extent: 4% total body surface area) at times 12, 36, and 72 hours after a superficial burn. The following parameters were assessed: quantitative blood‐cell‐flow (cbf), epidermal thickness (Emin), basal‐layer thickness (tbl), and granular cell‐size (Agran). Cbf was found to be 54±3.6 cells/minutes (control), increased to 91±3.6 cells/minutes ( p <0.05) 12 hours postburn; decreased to 71±6.1 cells/minutes ( p <0.05) (36 hours), and to 63±2.3 cells/minutes ( p >0.05) 72 hours postburn. Emin was 43.74±3.87 μm (control), increased to 51.67±4.04 μm ( p <0.05) 12 hours, decreased to 48.67±3.51 μm ( p <0.05) 36 hours, and to 45.33±3.21 μm ( p >0.05) at 72 hours postburn. Tbl was 14.17±0.6 μm (control), increased to 16.93±1.15 μm ( p <0.05) 12 hours, decreased to 15.93±1.20 μm ( p <0.05) 32 hours, and to 15.00±0.85 μm ( p >0.05) 72 hours postburn. Agran was 718±56.20 μm 2 (control), increased to 901±66.02 μm 2 ( p <0.05) 12 hours, decreased to 826±56.86 μm 2 36 hours, and 766±65.06 μm 2 at 72 hours postburn. RMCM enables in vivo observation of wound microcirculation and allows direct assessment of vascular effects on cutaneous histomorphology during the healing course of superficial burns.