Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery

1 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Medicine

Modified Heterotopic Hindlimb Osteomyocutaneous Flap Model in the Rat for Translational Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation Research

Yoram Fleissig¹, Robert M. Reed^2,3, Jason E. Beare^2,3, Amanda J. LeBlanc^2,4, Stuart K. Williams^2,4, Christina L. Kaufman¹, James B. Hoying^2,4

¹Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery, ²Cardiovascular Innovation Institute, University of Louisville, ³Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, University of Louisville, ⁴Department of Physiology, University of Louisville

Vascularized composite allograft offers life-altering benefits to transplant recipients, but the biological causes of graft rejection and vasculopathy remain poorly understood. The rodent surgical model presented here offers a reproducible, clinically relevant model of transplantation, allowing researchers to evaluate rejection events and potential therapeutic strategies to prevent their occurrence.