AIMTo evaluate the degree of corporal fibrosis in rats with cadaveric pericardium or vein as grafting materials for tunica albuginea substitution.

MATERIALS AND METHODSThirty male Sprague-Dawley rats (300 g approximately 325 g) were divided at random into 3 groups of 10 animals each: group 1 was the sham-operated controls and groups 2 and 3 underwent wedge excision of tunica albuginea and replacement with cadaveric pericardium and vein grafts, respectively. Four months later, rats were sacrificed and the penis removed to assess the degree of fibrosis using RT-PCR technique for TGF-bgr1 mRNA expression. The tissues were fixed in 10% formalin, paraffin-embedded and stained with Masson's trichrome and Verhoff's van Giesen for collagen and elastic fibers.

RESULTSFour months after grafting, there was minimal fibrosis surrounding the patch in the vein graft rats and moderate fibrosis in the pericardial graft rats. The degree of penile fibrosis in the pericardial graft rats was significantly higher than that in the controls (P<0.01), but in the vein graft rats it was not significantly different from that of the controls (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe degree of penile fibrosis of cadaveric pericardial graft was significantly higher than that of the control group, while in the vein graft group it was comparable to the latter. The authors believe that the vein graft may be a more ideal substance to be used as the tunica albuginea substitute than the pericardial graft in the surgical treatment of Peyronie'S disease.