Microdensity and morphometric analysis of autologous bone grafts cells.

Bone transplantation as a mean to reduce the fracture healing time in large defects was attempted for the first time more than 300 years ago, with nowadays several techniques and methods of assessment of its efficacy. The bone graft was longtime thought as initiating the osteogenesis from the recipient, but new data show that cells from the graft contribute to osteogenesis and to its incorporation into newly formed bone. There is no accurate assessment of the microdensity of bone graft cells in evolution so far, the only studies published recently referring to newly formed bone area. We have performed bone transplantation on seven dogs and have analyzed the microdensity and the morphometric features of bone graft cells. We have found that the cellular microdensity increases both in the graft and in the recipient bone, simultaneously with a decrease of cell size and circularity during maturation.