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Summary
Scanning electron microscopic observations of the de-epidermalised surfaces of wounds and control skin reveal the architecture of dermal collagen. At wound edges there is a transition from the normal regular rete peg structure through erratically shaped finger-like projections with buds, to the relatively flat surface of granulation tissue. A corresponding change in the ultrastructure of dermal collagen is seen from normal areas where bundles of thick fibres are made up from finer fibrils, through a transitional zone where only fine fibrils are visible, to the granulation tissue where a disorganised amorphous structure is seen. It is suggested that the fibrous tissue surface at the edges of healing wounds is extensively remodelled after it is covered by epidermal cells.
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
April 16,
1993
Received:
May 1,
1992
Identification
Copyright
© 1993 The British Association of Plastic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc.
