This study compares two simplified techniques, which use only 2 and 4 sutures respectively, with a conventional technique with 8 sutures for fallopian tube anastomosis. Experimentally these techniques were performed on the uterine horns of fifteen female rats. A 100% patency rate was obtained with all three techniques. No difference in the mucosal, muscular and serosal regeneration was observed in the three groups at 10, 20 and 60 days. Two months after surgery, the serosa, muscularis and mucosal layers were completely continuous in all groups. The operating with 2 sutures (5'30" +/- 1'10") was significantly less than with 4 (9'09" +/- 0'55", P < 0.05 ANOVA) and 8 sutures (15'12" +/- 1'41", P < 0.05 ANOVA). A minimum inflammatory reaction to sutures was observed in all three groups at 60 days after surgery. The results suggest that with 2 sutures are all that is needed for tissue repair.

A microfilarial infection of the mammary gland of a bitch with Dirofilaria immitis was diagnosed by fine needle aspiration biopsy. The animal had had a progressively enlarging, painful, pendulous, cystic swelling, measuring 12 x 18 cm, in the second left abdominal mammary gland for four to five months. Two separate biopsies revealed microfilariae and mammary duct epithelial cells, but no inflammatory cells. A histological examination revealed atrophic and necrotic mammary lobules with dilated and cystic ducts. Solid carcinoma was also observed in a small area of the mammary mass. The interlobular connective tissue was oedematous and the lymphatic and vascular channels were dilated. Microfilariae were observed within both the small blood vessels and capillaries and in the interlobular stroma of the mammary tissue, but there was no evidence of an inflammatory response.

Experimental studies on adhesion formation 90 days after laparotomy in the rat were done. Uterine horn adhesions after standardised procedures and trauma in a control group of 10 rats were compared with those obtained in six other 10-rat groups in whom heparin, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), 32% dextran 70 and the fabric TC7 either alone or in various combinations were used at the time of laparotomy. Dextran 70 and CMC used on their own appeared to reduce adhesion formation but the improvement did not achieve statistical significance when compared with the control group. TC7 used alone had no anti-adhesion effect; when used with CMC or dextran 70, TC7 did not enhance the anti-adhesion benefit conferred by either substance used on its own.

A one centimeter length of the left uterine horn in two groups of Wistar rats (n = 10) was replaced with normal (VAS group) or with denervated and devascularizated (NVAS group) colonic grafts. All animals maintained pregnancy in the right control horns but not in the grafted horns. At 40, 60 and 90 days after surgery, the light microscopic appearance of the autografts was studied. In the VAS group, and with respect to the last period, the number (5.5 +/- 0.7) and height (1.0 +/- 0.1 mm, P < 0.05 ANOVA) of the folds, the intestinal glands height (160.2 +/- 21.2 mu, P < 0.05 ANOVA) and the number of globet cells per gland (26.6 +/- 4.2, P < 0.05 ANOVA) had decreased in relation to the colon control (6.0 +/- 0.7, 1.4 +/- 0.1, 251.7 +/- 31.8, 42.6 +/- 5.2 respectively). A similar intestinal structure to that described above was observed in the anastomosis areas of the NVAS group, and therefore a decreased mucus production was maintained in this areas. No folds or intestinal glands were observed, but a monoestratified cubic epithelial cells type was observed along 63.7 +/- 4.1% of the NVAS colonic graft center. Under this epithelium a connective tissue, like a non-glandular submucosa, was obtained.

The influence of prostaglandins E2 and F2 alpha on passage pressure across the uterotubal junction (UTJ) and isthmus were studied in rats that were either in the pro-oestrus, oestrus, metoestrus or dioestrus phases. Effects of these prostaglandins were also investigated in rats that had been either ovariectomized and treated with oestradiol or medroxiprogesterone acetate, or only ovariectomized. In each rat, the left UTJ was surgically resected and the isthmus anastomosed to the uterine horn, whereas the right UTJ was left untouched. The passage pressures across the left isthmus and the right UTJ were measured before and after prostaglandin treatment. The pressures obtained in the UTJ in the oestrus phase and oestrogen-treated ovariectomized animals were lower than those registered in the remaining groups. Prostaglandin E2 decreased the pressures when compared with pre-treatment measures in all groups. Significantly higher pressures were registered across the UTJ in prostaglandin F2 alpha than in E2 treatment, with these higher pressures being similar to pre-treatment pressures. Both hormonal changes throughout the oestrous cycle and prostaglandin E2 treatment had a similar influence on the passage pressure across the isthmus, as that described for UTJ, but with lower values. The results indicate that prostaglandin E2 decreases the passage pressure across both UTJ and isthmus and can have an influence on the regulation of transport across these 2 areas.