Uterine horn replacement in the rat using denervated and devascularized jejunum

In the hope of identifying suitable material for reconstructive tubal and uterine surgery, the authors have replaced a portion of the uterine horns of two groups of Wistar rats ( n = 10) with normal (VAS group) or with denervated and devascularized jejunal grafts (NVAS group). All grafted horns stayed patent. No pregnancy was observed in the uterine horns operated on. The light microscopic appearance of the grafts was studied and compared by ANOVA. Three months after surgery in the VAS group, the number (51.4 ± 9.5) and height (309.8 ± 44.7 μm, P < 0.05) of the villus, the Lieberkühn cripts height (156.9 ± 34.9 μm) and the number of goblet cells per cript (7.2 ± 1.2, P < 0.05) had decreased in relation to their corresponding control jejunal fragments (57.7 ± 5.4; 345.1 ± 18.0 μm; 192.2 ± 40.8 μm; 12.4 ± 1.9, respectively). Three months after surgery, the intestinal structure was maintained in the anastomosis areas of the NVAS group, therefore the mucus production of the jejunal-graft mucosa was not completely eliminated. No villus or crypts were observed, but a monostratified cubic-cell-type ephithelium at the NVAS jejunal graft mid-portion, along 58.1 ± 12.9% of the total length of the intestinal graft. Under this epithelium a connective tissue, like a non-glandular submucosa, was apparent.