Some observations on the regeneration of smooth muscle in the repaired urinary bladder of the rabbit.

The regeneration of smooth muscle appears to take place within the fibrous tissue characteristically found when a biodegradable collagen/Vicryl prosthesis is used to repair full thickness defects in the rabbit urinary bladder. The question of whether the central smooth muscle was the result of myoblastic differentiation in the fibrous tissue or arose from healthy pre-existing detrusor muscle was resolved by serial sectioning and specific staining. Only in situ transmutation, or differentiation, explains the morphology, and the results therefore strongly suggest that this central smooth muscle regenerated from within the repair area.