[Repair of tibial defect with tissue-engineered bone graft and radionuclide bone imaging in goats].

Objective: To observe the effect of tissue-engineered bone grafts in repairing large tibial defect in goats, and assess the value of radionuclide bone imaging in monitoring the therapeutic effect of this approach.

Methods: Tibial defects measuring 2 cm was artificially made in the left tibia of 27 normal goats that were subsequently divided into 3 groups (9 each) to undergo treatment with tissue-engineered bone grafts, artificial bone grafts or without any grafts (as control group) respectively. The tissue-engineered bone grafts contained bone marrow stroma cells (BMSCs) of the goats and coral hydroxyapatite (CHAP), while the artificial bone grafts were from CHAP only. After the operations, radionuclide bone imaging was used to monitor the therapeutic effects at 2, 4 and 8 postoperative weeks.

Results: The 99mTc-MDP uptake of the region of interest (ROI) and the target to non-target ratios (T/NT) of the control group did not indicate any process of revascularization or bone regeneration. An increasing tendency of the revascularization and bone regeneration, in contrast, was observed in goats receiving the artificial bone grafts, a tendency that was far more obvious in the goats with tissue-engineered bone grafts.

Conclusion: Tissue-engineered bone graft is eligible in repairing large defect in the caprine tibia, and radionuclide bone imaging may accurately monitor the revascularization and bone regeneration after the bone graft implantation.