Autologous Nerve Guide Simplifies Cavernous Nerve Graft
Reconstruction
By Will Boggs, MD
NEW YORK DEC 10, 2007(Reuters Health) - After radical prostate cancer
surgery involving cavernous nerves, nerve reconstruction using an
autologous nerve vein-guide technique yields good outcomes in
restoring potency, according to a report in the November issue of BJU
International.
"The basic technique of microsurgical nerve anastomosis is a common
procedure and has been done by many micro-surgeons and plastic
surgeons," Dr. Masaki Fujioka from National Nagasaki Medical Center,
Japan told Reuters Health. "Our new method was developed aiming to
perform easy nerve anastomosis, so that surgeons who treat nerve
injury can readily perform our method."
The technique involves harvesting the sural nerve with a section of
the lesser saphenous vein that runs along side. "The harvested nerve
is threaded through the lumen of the harvested saphenous vein," Dr.
Fujioka and colleagues explain. The distal nerve anastomosis is
made, "then the vein guide is positioned to cover the coaptation
site," followed by suturing of the proximal anastomosis.
The team used sural nerve grafting with the autologous vein-guide
technique in eight men with prostate cancer who required radical
resection involving one cavernous nerve.
Seven of the eight patients had spontaneous erectile activity after
grafting, the authors report, and six were able to have intercourse
(four of those with the aid of sildenafil).
Erectile activity began an average of 8.75 months after the nerve
grafting, the researchers say.
"This technique is simple, can be performed quickly, has minimal
associated morbidity, and yields good outcomes," the investigators
conclude.
"We are now interested in the tissue regeneration method using adult
stem cells, which is a targeted therapeutic modality in disorders of
nerve and blood supply," Dr. Fujioka said. "We have an idea of a
clinical experiment of combination of nerve reconstruction and
administration of stem cells and FGF-2 to improve the nerve
function."
SOURCE:
http://www.cancerpa
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http://www.CNSfoundation.org/
Cord Blood Registry
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The CNS Healing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CNS_Healing
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