Tiam Mana Saffari

16 CHAPTER 1 deficit 28 . Autografts could be used in various techniques, including cable grafts which comprise multiple lengths of a smaller diameter donor nerve to meet the caliber of the recipient nerve (Figure 3), and for vascularized grafts 26 . Figure 3. Schematic illustration of the sural nerve harvest. The sural nerve could be used as cable grafts, by comprising multiple lengths of smaller diameter nerve aligned in parallel to meet the caliber of the recipient nerve. With permission of the Mayo Foundation, Copyright Mayo Foundation. All rights reserved. Nerve allograft The history of nerve allografts exceeds that of autografts, however, the need of systemic immunosuppressive therapy and risk of disease transmission precluded widespread use of this treatment modality 29,30 . Many experimental and clinical efforts have been directed towards diminishing the antigenicity of the allograft by pretreatment with irradiation, enzymatic treatment, detergent processing and cryopreservation. While the internal nerve architecture and the basal lamina remain intact, these techniques process the allografts to become acellular, thus reducing graft immunogenicity 29,31,32 .