HISTOLOGY AND HISTOPATHOLOGY

From Cell Biology to Tissue Engineering

 

Morphological and histomorphometric evaluation of the ventral rectus sheath of the rectus abdominis muscle, fascia lata and pectoral fascia. The beginning of a morphological information bank of human fascias

Rodolfo Morales-Avalos1*, Adolfo Soto-Domínguez2*, Jaime García-Juárez2, Marcela Cardenas-Serna1, Claudia N. Esparza-Hernández1, Sofía Alejandra Carreño-Salcedo1, Roberto Montes-de-Oca-Luna2, María de Jesús Loera-Arias2, Odila Saucedo-Cárdenas2,3, Rodrigo E. Elizondo-Omaña1 and Santos Guzmán-López1

1Department of Human Anatomy, 2Department of Histology, Faculty of Medicine, University Autonomous of Nuevo León (UANL), Monterrey, Nuevo León, México and 3Northeast Biomedical Research Centre (CIBIN) of the IMSS, Monterrey, N.L., México.
*The first and second author contributed equally in the study

Offprint requests to: Rodrigo E. Elizondo-Omaña M.D. Ph.D, Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University Autonomous of Nuevo León (UANL), Ave. Madero s/n Col. Mitras Centro, Monterrey, C.P.64460, Nuevo León, México. e-mail: rod_omana@yahoo.com


Summary. The aim of this study was to characterize and compare the morphological and histomorphometric characteristics of the pectoral fascia, fascia lata and ventral rectus sheath. Twenty cadaveric samples of these fascias were analyzed and stained with hematoxylin and eosin, orcein, Van Gieson, Masson’s trichrome and Verhoeff’s stain (1200 slides in total). Morphological evaluation, semiquantitative, morphometric and microdensitometric analysis of elastic fibers present in each of the tissues and a morphometrical analysis of tissue thickness were performed. The mean value of the pectoral fascia thickness was 612±68,13 µm; 84±246 µm for the fascia lata and 584±92 µm for the ventral rectus sheath. The area occupied by the elastic fibers in the pectoral fascia was 12,24±5,84%; 6,54±3,85% for the fascia lata and 11,11±5,26% for the ventral rectus sheath. There were no statistically significant differences when comparing the mean values between the pectoral fascia and the ventral rectus sheath (p=0,07). There were statistically significant differences when comparing the fascia lata to the pectoral fascia and the ventral rectus sheath (p<=0,001). This study reports other morphological characteristics not described in previous histological studies of the analyzed tissues. The results of the morphometric and densitometric analysis in this study reveal that the fascia lata has the fewest elastic fibers of all the tissues analyzed, and the pectoral fascia has the most. These results will be useful for the beginning of a morphological information bank of human fascias. Histol Histopathol 32, 271-282 (2017)

Key words: Collagen, Elastic fibers, Fascia lata, Pectoral fascia, Ventral rectus sheath

DOI: 10.14670/HH-11-794