Objective To explore an anatomical basis for the lateral tarsal artery pedicle flap on front and lateral compartment of leg and the feasibility of repairing skin defects on forepart of feet. Methods The branches, course and anastomosis of the lateral tarsal artery, perforator of peroneal artery up external malleolus, superficial peroneal artery were studied in 20 legs of adult cadavers.The flap was designed on these grounds. 8 cases repaired by lateral tarsal artery pedicle flap on front and lateral compartment of leg, 5 cases of skin defects on dorsum of foots, 3 cases of skin defects on footplates.The area of defect on forepart of foot was 5 cm× 4 cm-cm × 5 cm. The donor sites were resurfaced with skin grafts or sutured directly. The lateral tarsal artery, perforator of peroneal artery up external malleolus, perforator of anterior tibial artery superficial peroneal artery were anastomosed each other, formed single band blood vessel axle on lateral foot, fore external malleolus, front and lateral compartment of leg. The area of flap was 6 cm × 4 cm - 10 cm × 6 cm.Results All of the flaps survived completely. All cases were followed up, followed up 6- 12 months, averaged 8 months. The color, appearance and texture of the flaps were good, without ulcer on the flap. The patients can walk freely. Conclusion The flap on front and lateral compartment of leg should be designed according to the lateral tarsal artery. Blood supply of flap was reliable, little trauma. The flap's vessel pedicle is enough long. It could repair any defect on forepart of foots.

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease is a severe threat to human health with no ideal treatment strategy. Mature mammalian kidneys have a fixed number of nephrons, and regeneration is difficult once they are damaged. For this reason, developing an efficient approach to achieve kidney regeneration is necessary. The technology of the combination of decellularized kidney scaffolds with stem cells has emerged as a new strategy; however, in previous studies, the differentiation of stem cells in decellularized scaffolds was insufficient for functional kidney regeneration, and many problems remain. METHODS: We used 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to produce rat kidney decellularized scaffolds, and induce adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) into intermediate mesoderm by adding Wnt agonist CHIR99021 and FGF9 in vitro. The characteristics of decellularized scaffolds and intermediate mesoderm induced from adipose–derived stem cells were identified. The scaffolds were recellularized with ADSCs and intermediate mesoderm cells through the renal artery and ureter. After cocultured for 10 days, cells adhesion and differentiation was evaluated. RESULTS: Intermediate mesoderm cells were successfully induced from ADSCs and identified by immunofluorescence and Western blotting assays (OSR1 + , PAX2 +). Immunofluorescence showed that intermediate mesoderm cells differentiated into tubular-like (E-CAD + , GATA3 +) and podocyte-like (WT1 +) cells with higher differentiation efficiency than ADSCs in the decellularized scaffolds. Comparatively, this phenomenon was not observed in induced intermediate mesoderm cells cultured in vitro. CONCLUSION: In this study, we demonstrated that intermediate mesoderm cells could be induced from ADSCs and that they could differentiate well after cocultured with decellularized scaffolds.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Kidney ; Mesoderm ; Nephrons ; Rats ; Regeneration ; Renal Artery ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate ; Stem Cells ; Ureter