A new animal model to assess angiogenesis and endocrine function of parathyroid heterografts in vivo.

Background: It is still a matter of investigation how angiogenesis and restoration of gland perfusion determine graft function after free parathyroid autotransplantation. We provide a new animal model allowing simultaneous and repetitive in vivo assessment of angiogenesis and endocrine function of parathyroid transplants.

Methods: Fresh human parathyroid tissue from patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism was grafted into dorsal skinfold chamber preparations of athymic nude mice (CD1-nu; n=8).