Experimental evaluation of a percutaneous injectable biomaterial used in radio-interventional bone-filling procedures.

Interventional radiology is beginning to be used in bone pathology. An injectable biomaterial Ethibloc*, composed of alcohol and a vegetal protein (zein), has been successfully used for percutaneous treatment of benign bone lesions. The reasons for this success remained unknown and needed to be understood.

Porous HA ceramic for bone replacement: role of the pores and interconnections - experimental study in the rabbit.

Hydroxyapatite (HA) porous ceramics are increasingly used in biomedical applications. Their physical characteristics, such as porous volume, require perfect control of the pore shape, as well as the number and the size of their interconnections. The aim of our study was to evaluate a new HA ceramic using polymethylmethacrylate microbeads (PMMA) as the porous agent.

Histological aspects in bone regeneration of an association with porous hydroxyapatite and bone marrow cells.

The osteogenic potential of an association of two kinds of hydroxyapatite (HA) porous ceramics with autologous bone marrow cells cultured with or without dexamethasone (10(-8)M) addition in the culture medium and non-cultured rabbit marrow stromal stem cells (MSCs) was tested after 4 weeks of implantation in the dorsal muscles of spine in rabbit. A significantly higher number of rabbits with implants containing bone tissue inside pores were obtained with 10(7) cells ml(-1) cultured treated with Dex. In the HA porous ceramic using naphtalen as porogen agent, the bone recolonization remains only at the periphery of implants and in the second row of pores, while in the HA porous ceramic using polymethacrylate (PMMA) microbeads as porogen agent, the bone recolonization is observed in the depth of implants.

Role of interconnections in porous bioceramics on bone recolonization in vitro and in vivo.

The interconnections in a porous biomaterial are the pathways between the pores. They conduct cells and vessels between pores. Thus they favour bone ingrowth inside ceramics.

Migration of polyethylene particles around nonloosened cemented femoral components from a total hip arthroplasty-an autopsy study.

Three cemented femoral components from total hip arthroplasties retrieved at autopsy were examined in regard to the migration of birefringent polyethylene particles across the fixation interfaces. They were obtained from two patients who died from unrelated causes. They had been in place, respectively, for 8 and 9 years (first patient) and for 9 years (second patient).