The arterial source of the flap,the anastomoses of cutaneous arteries in theskin and subcutaneous tissue and nervous distribution in the flap were observed andsurveyed in 42 upper limbs of adult cadavers.1.The arterial source of the flap comes mainly from the cutaneous branches ofprofund brachial artery,radial collateral artery,lateral humeral cutaneous artery andcutaneous branches of the posterior circumflex humeral artery.In most cases theprofund brachial artery and radial collateral artery may be served as the vascularpedicle of the flap of lateral brachium in transplantation.2.The cutaneous arteries in this flap anastomose each other to from a networkin the skin and subcutaneous tissue.Cutaneous arteries arising from the medial brac-hial region and the upper part of forearm also participate in the formation of thisvascular network.3.The veins of the flap contain both superficial and deep groups:The superfi-cial group is the cephalic vein of brachium which goes upward along the lateralsulcus of m.biceps brachii and its outer caliber is somewhat wider;the deep groupfollows the profund brachial artery or radial collateral artery as their venae comit-antes.Both groups may be sutured together or separately with veins of the recipientin skin grafting.4.The lateral brachial cutaneous nerve and posterior antebrachial cutaneousnerve pierce through the lateral intermuscular septum at various levels,and innervateover the skin in lateral brachial and posterior forearm regions.Since the posteriorbrachial cutaneous nerve is accompanied closely by the radial collateral artery,muchattention should be paid to it in cutting skin flap.5.The extent of cutting a skin flap in lateral brachial region can be enlargeddue to free anastomoses with arteries of adjacent regions which was demonstrated byperfusing red ink into profund brachial artery.The flap of lateral brachium maybe subdivided into following three parts:the upper,middle and lower,the vascularpedicle of which are the cutaneous branch of posterior circumflex humeral artery,lateral humeral cutaneous artery and profund brachial artery(or radial collateralartery)respectively.

OBJECTIVESTo observe the changes of serum interleukins (IL), T-lymphocyte subsets, and white blood cell (WBC) count in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and to investigate the relationship between injured immune function, immune response and disturbed immune adjustment in SARS patients.

METHODSThe levels of serum IL-2, IL-10, IL-12 and T-lymphocyte subset counts were measured in 35 clinically diagnosed SARS patients by using enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). The relationship between the measured results and WBC count was further analyzed.

RESULTSThe level of serum IL was increased to a great extent in the 35 SARS patients, and the levels of serum IL-2, IL-10 and IL-12 were 242.53 (92.69) pg/ml, 77.43 (63.37) pg/ml and 65.94 (43.21) pg/ml, respectively. The level of serum IL-2 increased markedly (P < 0.01). The peripheral blood CD(3)(+), CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) counts were lower than normal in 23 patients (67.7%), 26 patients (74.3%) and 15 patients (42.9%), respectively. The peripheral blood WBC counts were lower than 4.0 x 10(9)/L in 10 patients, and their CD(3)(+), CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) counts were 583.90 (315.58) x 10(6)/L, 272.00 (94.13) x 10(6)/L and 209.00 (72.21) x 10(6)/L, respectively. The peripheral blood WBC counts were (4.0 - 10.0) x 10(9)/L in 20 patients, and their CD(3)(+), CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) counts were 700.00 (502.96) x 10(6)/L, 347.00 (247.58) x 10(6)/L and 322.05 (228.47) x 10(6)/L, respectively. The peripheral blood WBC counts were higher than 10.0 x 10(9)/L in 5 patients, and their CD(3)(+), CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) counts were 1466.00 (630.86) x 10(6)/L, 783.00 (311.14) x 10(6)/L and 640.00 (294.40) x 10(6)/L, respectively. The decreased CD(3)(+), CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) counts were consistent with the decreased WBC counts. The level of IL in SARS patients was significantly higher than that in patients with chronic hepatitis B (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe level of serum IL is closely related to cell immunity in SARS patients. The level of serum IL is increased evidently while CD(3)(+), CD(4)(+) and CD(8)(+) counts decrease. Both serum IL and CD are associated with injury of immune function, and thus they could be regarded as a monitoring index for judging the condition of SARS patients and prescribing immune therapy.

Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukins ; blood ; Leukocyte Count ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; immunology ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; cytology