Objective To provide the applied anatomy of the posterior intercostal artery perforator flap and the clinical results of repairing the soft tissue defects with lateral perforator flap. Methods Six fresh adult cadavers were injected with a lead oxide-gelatin mixture for three-dimensional visualization reconstruction using a 64-slice spiral computed tomography scanner and specialized software (Materiaise's interactive medical image control system,MIMICS).The origin,course,diameter,and distribution of the the 6-10th posterior intercostal artery perforators in the thoroax region were observed and measured.Clinically,nine cases were treated with the lateral perforator flap supplied by 7-10th posterior intercostal artery transplantation for repairing wounds in upper limbs.The flap size was 9 cm × 7 cm-16 cm × 12 cm. Results The 6-10th posterior intercostal artery perforator (outer diameter 1.70 ± 0.14 mm) were from the artery in the chest region, which pierce in deep fascia near midaxillary line. The average pedicle length from the deep fascia was (87.56 ± 6.48) mm.All of 9 cases were repaired successfully,the clinical results were satisfactory.Conclusion The posterior intercostal artery perforator flap can be used to form many kinds of axial skin flaps,it is a good option for repairing soft-tissue defect.

Objective To investigate the expression and the relationship with angiogenesis of miR-195 and NLR family member X1 (NLRX1) in granulation tissue after negative-pressure wound treatment (NPWT).Methods Six patients were collected who received negative pressure treatment with refractory wound granulation.The levels of miR-195, NLRX1 mRNA and NLRX1 proteins were measured.The expression of NLRX1 and the micro-vascular density (MVD) of CD31 were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC).Results MiR-195 and MVD were significantly higher in granulation tissue after 7 days negative pressure treatment (P＜0.05), and NLRX1 was significantly lower (P ＜0.05).In granulation tissue,the expression of miR-195 was negatively correlated with NLRX1 (r =-0.856, P ＜0.001), the expression of NLRX1 was negatively correlated with MVD (r =-0.618, P ＜0.05), and the expression of miR-195 was positively correlated with MVD (r =0.630, P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Negative pressure wound therapy can promote the formation of granulation vessels and the wound healing.The therapeutic mechanism may inhibit the expression of NLRX1 and upregulate the expression of miR-195 to promote angiogenesis.