Abnormal collagen fibril structure of skin in chronic haemodialysis patients: An electron microscopic study

The structure of collagen fibrils of skin in chronic haemodialysis patients was studied by electron microscopy. Although, in all patients, the parallel packing of the fibrils remained, there were areas with disorganization. The periodicity D as well as the banding pattern were normal. The most conspicuous finding of the work presented here is that in all patients the fibril diameters were significantly smaller than those from normal age-matched control subjects. Also, the former showed a much higher degree of variability in width of collagen fibrils than the latter.