Establishment and Characteristic Analysis of a Dog Model for Autologous Homologous Cranioplasty

Abstract

Objective. The aim of this study is to establish a large animal (dog) model that can be referred clinically for autologous homologous cranioplasty. Methods. Our large skull defect dog model was established by emulating the decompressive craniectomy with 22 adult beagle dogs. The autologous bones were taken out from the dogs and divided into two groups, the freeze-drying (FD) group and the single freezing (SF) group. They were then stored in the bone bank at -20°C after being irradiated with 25 KGy. Three months later, the bones were reimplanted. After operation, we closely watch the experimental objects for four more months examining the infection and survival of the bone graft. Results. Through macroscopic observation, it was found that, among 44 cranial flaps (bilateral) from the rest of the 22 dogs, grade A cranial flaps accounted for 86.4% (19/22) in the SF group and only 31.8% (7/22) in the FD group. Although osteogenic osteoclast, Harvard tube, neovascularization, and angiogenic factors were found through the pathological results, including an electron microscope and calmodulin tracer, it could be verified by using X-CT and micro-CT that early bone resorption could be still found even in grade A bone flap. Conclusion. By using the common clinical method to preserve the cranial flaps, we established an experimental dog model of autologous cranioplasty for a large area of cranial defect. It was proved that this model could reproduce the infections and bone resorption which typically happened in clinical autologous homologous cranioplasty. As a conclusion, the established model can be used as an effective experimental tool for further research to improve the success rate of autologous homologous cranioplasty.

Injectable Magnesium-Zinc Alloy Containing Hydrogel Complex for Bone Regeneration

“…However, it usually has high probability of bone resorption which may cause bone defects and impair reimplantation (Chan et al, 2017;Barzaghi et al, 2019). In our previous study, varying degrees of bone defects were found due to bone resorption after calvarial reimplantation in Beagle dogs, which were very similar to what happened clinically (Zhu et al, 2020). In addition, congenital hypoplasia, chronic infections, or bone tumors may also cause calvarial bone defects.…”

Application of Hydrogels as Sustained-Release Drug Carriers in Bone Defect Repair

“…With remarkable bone conduction, osteoinduction and osteogenesis properties, the autografts derived from the patients themselves have been widely used and are still regarded as the best choice for the treatment of serious bone defects [6]. However, due to the limited source of materials and a series of complications such as postoperative infection and pain, other methods are required to treat serious bone defects and must be considered [11,[25][26][27][28]. Allografts and xenografts are often used as secondary options to overcome the problem of limited material sources.…”