Tiam Mana Saffari

142 CHAPTER 7 Muscle atrophy over time A marked loss of tibial muscle cross-sectional area of 60% was found in week four in all groups, followed by an increase up to 16 weeks. At 16 weeks, recovery muscle loss was averaged at 64.8 ± 5.3% for autograft, 66.4 ± 7.3% for allograft and 72.0 ± 4.9% for SIEF (Figure 5). No significant differences were found among groups at the different time points. Figure 5. Cross-sectional scans of tibial anterior muscle determined by ultrasonography. Nerve defects repaired with autograft, allograft and the allograft wrapped with a superficial inferior epi- gastric fascial (SIEF) flap are followed up in time until sacrifice. Results are expressed as a percentage of the experimental left side to the unoperated right side (L/R Ratio) and are given as the mean ± SEM. N=10 per group. Histological outcomes No significant differences between groups were found with regard to axon area, axon count and myelin area. The nerve surface area was comparable between groups at 12 weeks. At 16 weeks, nerve area was significantly larger in autografts compared to allografts (P<0.01) and SIEF (P<0.001). Also, nerve area in allograft was larger compared to SIEF (P<0.05). At 12 weeks, the N-ratio showed inferiority of the allograft compared to the autograft and the SIEF group (P<0.05). At 16 weeks, no significant