Scanning electron microscopic observations of the de-epidermalised sur
faces of wounds and control skin reveal the architecture of dermal col
lagen. At wound edges there is a transition from the normal regular re
te peg structure through erratically shaped finger-like projections wi
th buds, to the relatively flat surface of granulation tissue. A corre
sponding change in the ultrastructure of dermal collagen is seen from
normal areas where bundles of thick fibres are made up from finer fibr
ils, through a transitional zone where only fine fibrils are visible,
to the granulation tissue where a disorganised amorphous structure is
seen. It is suggested that the fibrous tissue surface at the edges of
healing wounds is extensively remodelled after it is covered by epider
mal cells.