Anatomic Changes in the Macroscopic Morphology and Microarchitecture of Denervated Long Bone Tissue after Spinal Cord Injury in Rats
Figure 6
Anterior (a), lateral (b), and posterior (c) views of tibias from 3 different groups: Sham, SCI, and SCI + ES. The lack of muscle contraction caused anatomic changes in the tibias of the SCI rats. The anterior margin and tibial tuberosity are noticeably reduced in SCI (white arrows, (a) and (b)) when compared with Sham and SCI + ES. Conversely, ES stimulated bone formation and increased these anatomic prominences (white arrowheads, (a) and (b)). In the posterior view (c), the posterior tibial depression is practically nonexistent at the unloaded tibia (black arrow, SCI) but becomes more evident with muscle electrical stimulation (black arrowhead, SCI + ES). (SCI: spinal cord injury; ES: electrical stimulation).
