Revascularization of autogenous skin grafts placed on irradiated tissue.

Vascular changes in rat skin after irradiation were examined microangiographically. Revascularization of the skin transplanted during the chronic stage after irradiation was also studied. The results obtained through these examinations revealed higher vascular densities at the acute and the subacute stages, and low values at the chronic stages compared with those of the control. Furthermore, when the skin grafts were transplanted to the irradiated beds in the chronic stage, primary revascularization was scant, and the inhibited capillary proliferation in the recipient sites prevented new vessel penetration. This explains to why grafts transplanted to previously irradiated beds fail to survive.