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Induction of cartilage growth in a rabbit ear model: a pilot study

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Abstract

Identifying the control of cartilage regeneration is important both clinically and in tissue engineering research. A rabbit ear model was used to simulate surgery and trauma to explore the effect of perichondrial stripping on underlying cartilage in vivo. Ten rabbits (20 ears) formed four groups: two controls and two experimental groups. Group 1 served as the unoperated control group and underwent no treatment. Group 2 served as the operated control group and underwent elevation of auricular skin flaps without stripping the perichondrium. Groups 3 and 4 underwent increasing degrees of surgical insult. Group 3 underwent elevation of a skin flap with stripping of the perichondrium on both sides of the cartilage. Group 4 underwent both perichondrial stripping and the insertion of a thin silicone sheet as a barrier between the denuded cartilage and the skin flaps. At 3 months, punch biopsies of the cartilage were performed in each zone of insult, creating multiple thin sections. The results were analyzed using a computerized morphometry system. Histopathological examination of the groups revealed a regenerative layer of neocartilage which showed distinct hypercellular features of regeneration. The thickness of the new layer was proportional to the degree of the insult (p<0.01). A controlled insult to the perichondrium created a regenerative layer of cartilage; it seems that this layer of neocartilage is proportional to the insult. Further studies are in progress to clarify these findings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel

    Dean D. Ad-El

  2. Department of Otolaryngology, Hadassah University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel

    Izhac Dano

  3. Oral Pathology Laboratory, Hadassah University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel

    Jonah Selah & Gal Goshen

  4. Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petah Tikva, 49100, Israel

    Dean D. Ad-El

Authors
  1. Dean D. Ad-El
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  2. Jonah Selah
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  3. Gal Goshen
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  4. Izhac Dano
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Correspondence to Dean D. Ad-El.

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Ad-El, D.D., Selah, J., Goshen, G. et al. Induction of cartilage growth in a rabbit ear model: a pilot study. Eur J Plast Surg 28, 513–516 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-006-0048-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-006-0048-z

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