Morphological Variations in Brachial Plexus of Beagle Dogs: Evaluation of Utility as Sources of Allogeneic Nerve Grafts

Journal of Veterinary Medical Science

Shigeo HARA¹  Koujiro TOHYAMA³  Nobuyuki TOMIZAWA¹  Michiko NAKAMURA² 

[1] Department of Veterinary Surgery, Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University;Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, The United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu University;Department of Neuroanatomy and The Center for Electron Microscopy and Bio-Imaging Research, Iwate Medical University

关键词: axillary lymph node;    beagle dog;    brachial plexus;    branching pattern;    variation;   

DOI  :  10.1292/jvms.66.767

学科分类：兽医学

来源: Japanese Society of Veterinary Science

【 摘 要 】

References(21)Cited-By(3)Basic studies were carried out to apply frozen allogeneic nerve grafts in dogs after wide-ranging defects of the brachial plexus due to surgical resection of tumor. In this study, morphological variations in branching patterns of the brachial plexus were examined in ten beagle dogs, to evaluate whether the brachial plexus might represent a useful source of allogeneic nerve grafts. Spatial relationships between the axillary lymph node, which had the possibility of carcinomatous metastasis, and the musculocutaneous (MC) nerve, which was important for the function of the forelimbs, were also investigated. In all ten cases examined, the brachial plexus received ventral roots from the fifth cervical nerve to the first thoracic nerve. No significant variation in the branching pattern was found in any nerve except the phrenic, MC and dorsal thoracic nerves. Four communicating branches were observed and had some morphological variations which might be negligible for nerve grafting. Considering previous physiological and anatomical reports, the most important nerve to be reunited in graft operations for functional recovery is the radial nerve. The MC nerve and median or ulnar nerve should also be considered as possibilities for reuniting. Distances between the axillary lymph nodes and the MC nerve ranged from 11.2 mm to 21 mm (mean ± SD: 16.1 ± 2.3 mm). In conclusion, it was suggested that morphological variations in the brachial plexus were technically acceptable to apply allogeneic nerve grafts at least in beagle dogs.

【 授权许可】

Unknown