The Functional Angiosome: Clinical Implications of the Anatomical Concept

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The angiosome is a three-dimensional block of tissue supplied by a source vessel with its boundary outlined either by an anastomotic perimeter of reduced-caliber choke vessels or by true anastomoses with no reduction of vessel caliber. This article focuses on the role of these anastomotic vessels in defining flap survival or the necrotic pattern seen in fulminating meningococcal septicemia. METHODS: Experiments in pigs, dogs, guinea pigs, and rabbits over the past 46 years were reviewed, focusing on the necrosis line of flaps, the effects of various toxins in vivo, and correlating these results in the clinical setting. RESULTS: Experimentally, choke anastomoses are functional and..