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57. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neuropathologie und Neuroanatomie (DGNN)

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neuropathologie und Neuroanatomie

12. - 15.09.2012, Erlangen

Banner: 57. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neuropathologie und Neuroanatomie

Facial nerve repair: comparison of direct repair and y-tube-conduit repair techniques

Meeting Abstract

  • Arzu Hizay - Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Antalya, Turkey
  • Umut Ozsoy - Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Antalya, Turkey
  • Bahadir M. Demirel - Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Antalya, Turkey
  • Ozlem Ozsoy - Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology, Antalya, Turkey
  • Srebrina Angelova - University of Cologne, Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Cologne, Germany
  • Janina Ankerne - University of Cologne, Anatomical Institute I, Cologne, Germany
  • Sureyya Bilmen Sarikcioglu - Akdeniz University, Department of Biochemistry, Vocational School of Health,, Antalya, Turkey
  • Sarah Dunlop - University of Western Australia, School of Animal Biology and Western Australian Institute for Medical Research, Crawley, Australia
  • Doychin Angelov - University of Cologne, Anatomical Institute I, Cologne, Germany
  • presenting/speaker Levent Sarikcioglu - Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Antalya, Turkey

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neuropathologie und Neuroanatomie. 57th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Neuropathology and Neuroanatomy (DGNN). Erlangen, 12.-15.09.2012. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2012. Doc12dgnnPP1.7

doi: 10.3205/12dgnn025, urn:nbn:de:0183-12dgnn0251

Veröffentlicht: 11. September 2012

© 2012 Hizay et al.
Dieser Artikel ist ein Open Access-Artikel und steht unter den Creative Commons Lizenzbedingungen (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.de). Er darf vervielfältigt, verbreitet und öffentlich zugänglich gemacht werden, vorausgesetzt dass Autor und Quelle genannt werden.


Gliederung

Text

Question: Despite increased understanding of peripheral nerve regeneration, and theoretical merits of improving physical navigation by, for example, surgically aligning fascicles, the clinical results remain disappointing. Previous studies have used various conduits such as collagen, silicon and poly-L-lactide to promote regeneration of the main trunk of the facial nerve. A major contributing factor is extensive collateral branching at the lesion site which leads to inaccurate axonal navigation and aberrant reinnervation of targets. Among the various types of biological conduits that have been used for bridging peripheral nerve defects, considerable attention has been devoted to arterial 51 and venous 52–56 grafts. They appear to promote directional regeneration of axons from their cut ends, provide a conduit for diffusion of neurotropic and neurotrophic factors secreted by the damaged nerve stumps and minimize infiltration by fibrous tissue. We aimed to determine whether the isogenic aortic Y-tube improved axonal regrowth and whether this was associated with improved function.

Methods: Two surgical repair techniques (direct repair and Y-tube-conduit repair) were performed. After 4 months, all animals were subjected to video-based motion analysis of vibrissal motor performance, application of fluorescent tracers to determine collateral axonal branching ratio, and levator labii superioris muscles harvested to evaluate the ratio of polyinnervated neuromuscular junctions.

Results: We found that, following facial nerve injury, the degree of collateral sprouting at the injury site was reduced by the use of an aortic Y-tube during reconstructive surgery compared to direct coaptation alone. However, this did not result in a reduction in the extent of polyinnervation at the motor endplate nor in improved whisking function.

Cocnlusions: The data suggest that reducing collateral branching using a Y-tube during surgical reconstruction after facial nerve injury does not confer any added functional benefit.

[This study was supported by TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey, project number: 109S462), Jean-Uhrmacher-Foundation (S.K.A.)]