AdVEGF165gene transfer increases survival in overdimensioned skin flaps

Background Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key regulator of angiogenesis. VEGF A also plays an important role in wound healing of the skin by promoting angiogenesis and by stimulating blood vessel growth. Therefore we tested the hypothesis that flap survival could be increased by the preoperative injection of AdVEGF165. Methods We studied the effect of AdVEGF165 in an overdimensioned ischemic random-pattern-flap model in the rat (n = 50) with a length-to-width ratio of 4 : 1. VEGF cDNA was administered in two concentrations of 5 × 108 plaque-forming units (pfU) and 1 × 109 pfU using a recombinant adenoviral vector. Recombinant virus was injected subdermally 7, 3 or 0 days pri…