Abstract 11

in vitro ReConstruction of Epiphyseal Plate and Its application in the repairing of Epiphyseal Plate injury

^1,2Fei Yin, ¹Y Yu, ²L Guo, ²JC Wang, ²ZL Gao, ²DS Duan and ¹WR Walsh

¹Orthopaedic Research Laboratories, University of New South Wales, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney NSW
²Orthopaedic Department, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, PR China

Epiphyseal plate injury may result in deformity of limbs or growth stop. Current treatments focus on preventing the formation of bone bridging within the injury areas. The commonly used materials are adipose tissues, bone cement or synthesized materials. Autologous cartilage transplantation has been tried and the limited resources are the main barrier. With the advance cell engineering techniques, we harvested chondrocytes from the ribs of 4-weeks New Zealand Rabbits, reconstructed by high density centrifugation culture and implanted into the left medial tibial epiphyseal plate defect in 6-weeks New Zealand Rabbits. Empty defects in the right tibia served as controls. The endpoints were 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 24 weeks (5 per group per time point).

The tibial angles were evaluated by X-ray at 2, 8 and 24 weeks. The histo-morphology was assessed by H&E and toluidine blue staining.

At 8 weeks, the average tibial angles in the control groups (n=20) showed on X-ray was 38.80±3.50 and it was significantly greater than the treatment sides (9.01±4.2). Histological staining revealed bone in-growth in the control group at 2 weeks, while the treatment groups presented disorganized cartilage. At 4 weeks cartilage layers were noted in the treatment groups and the cutting edges disappeared.

Autologous epiphyseal plate reconstruction is a cell-based tissue therapy which allows expending the limited resources as well as reshaping and resizing thus provide a significant clinical application.

Return to Listing of 2004 Abstracts
View Listing of 2005 Abstracts