HIGH MAGNIFICATION IN-SITU VIEWING OF WOUND-HEALING IN ORAL-MUCOSA

Microscope endoscopy is a technique which allows high resolution, non- invasive examination of soft tissues. This study employed microscope e ndoscopy to examine the process of healing following exposure of the o ral mucosa to carbon dioxide laser radiation. On the wound boundaries, cellular debris and the laser-induced char layer were shed as epithel ial migration occurred. Wounds healed by secondary intention, with com plete epithelial closure by 72 hours. A marked vascular response was e vident from 6 to 48 hours following wounding, a time period coincident with the known pattern of blood vessel activation and infiltration of the wound site by leukocytes. The use of microscope endoscopy as an a djunct to biopsy and other invasive diagnostic methods in the assessme nt and follow-up of soft tissue pathology may have value in clinical p ractice.