SPINAL CORD REGENERATION IN RATS AFTER THORACIC SEGMENTECTOMY: GROWTH ANDREGENERATION OF NERVE FIBERS

As it was described in a previous paper (Morphology, 2005, v.127, Iss. 2), spinal cord (SC) consolidation after thoracic segmentectomy in rats took place via connective tissue scar formation in the area of trauma, which was accelerated when SC defect was filled with by the collagen gel (Spherogel). In this paper, on the basis of semithin section analysis and transmission electron microscopic study, it was shown that regenerating nerve fibers crossed the connective tissue within the formations, which were structurally identical to peripheral nerves. In the zones of rarified SC substance, caudally to the site of trauma, myelination of growing axons was realized by glial cells without the formation of the nerve truncs. In the white matter, within the fasciculi of SC lumbar segments, multiple thin regenerating fibers were seen in the area of degenerated myelinated nerve fibers.

spinal cord, segmentectomy, nerve fibers, regeneration