SURFACE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF HUMAN DERMIS AND WOUNDS

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.