phrenic nerve has very good regenerative ability

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Abstract from Microsurgery. 2004;24(3):232-40.

Phrenic nerve transfer in the treatment of brachial plexus avulsion: an

experimental study of nerve regeneration and muscle morphology in rats.

Zhang CG, Ma JJ, Terenghi G, Mantovani C, Wiberg M.

Department of Hand and Plastic Surgery, University Hospital, Umea,

Sweden.

The regeneration of motor and sensory neurons and the morphological

changes of the target muscle after phrenic nerve transfer were

investigated in adult rats. Six months following nerve transfer, 326.0

+/- 16.31 phrenic motoneurons regenerated into musculocutaneous nerve,

which is not different from the normal number of phrenic motoneurons.

The regenerated motoneurons exhibited a 14% nonsignificant hypertrophy.

Of the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons, 255.8 +/- 45.26 regenerated,

which was significantly lower than the number of normal phrenic DRG

neurons. The regenerated phrenic DRG neurons showed a 24%

close-to-significant atrophy. The target muscle fiber morphology changed

considerably after reinnervation. The present results suggest that the

phrenic nerve has very good regenerative ability in terms of its

motoneurons and a relatively insufficient sensory neuronal regeneration.