Regeneration of parietal and visceral peritoneum a light microscopical study

Abstract

Abstract The healing of visceral and parietal peritoneum has been investigated using conventional light microscopy, Hautchen preparations, and by using 1 μ sections of epoxy-resin-embedded material to follow the activity of peritoneal macrophages labelled with polystyrene spheres (0.79 μ in diameter). Healing has been found to occur rapidly and for the most part without adhesion formation. Parietal peritoneum and caecum are covered by a new mesothelial membrane in 8 days, while the liver is covered in 7 days. It has not been possible to support the theory that peritoneal macrophages are transformed into mesothelial cells via fibroblasts. The results obtained in the present investigation suggest that the new mesothelial layer is derived directly from the subperitoneal fibroblast.