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Clinical, radiological and histological study of the failure of cervical interbody fusions with bone substitutes

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Abstract

Few histological studies on bone substitutes in human cervical spine are available and the biological processes of bone substitutes are not well documented. The authors studied four failure cases of cervical interbody fusion: two cases with hydroxyapatite (HA), one case with β-tricalcium phosphate ceramic (β-TCP) and one case with xenograft (bovine bone). Clinical data showed that all the patients experienced neck pain with or without numbness of upper extremity due to fusion failure. Successful fusions were achieved after the salvage surgeries in which autograft were used. Radiographs showed that radiolucent lines were present in all cases. Two HA substitutes fractured without complications. One of them sank into the vertebral body. Some small β-TCP fragments were found under the microscope. Histological study demonstrated only a few newly formed bones at the interface of the substitutes. The fragments of HA were encapsulated by fibrous tissue. The degradation process and bone regeneration were more active in β-TCP than in HA. The intertrabecular spaces of bovine bone were filled with fibrous tissue. The results suggest that a porous calcium phosphate ceramic with special design might assure bone ingrowth and meet the mechanical requirements in cervical interbody fusion. The complications of these materials in the cervical spine should be highlighted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Second Medical University, 200011, Shanghai, China

    Youzhuan Xie

  2. Service d’Etude et de Traitement des Affections du Rachis, Institut Calot, Groupe Hopale, 62608, Berck sur Mer, France

    Daniel Chopin

  3. Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Biomatériaux et les Biotechnologies (LR2B), Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale, Inserm ERI 002, 52 rue du Docteur Calot, 62608, Berck sur Mer, France

    Youzhuan Xie, Pierre Hardouin & Jianxi Lu

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  1. Youzhuan Xie
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  2. Daniel Chopin
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  3. Pierre Hardouin
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  4. Jianxi Lu
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Correspondence to Jianxi Lu.

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Xie, Y., Chopin, D., Hardouin, P. et al. Clinical, radiological and histological study of the failure of cervical interbody fusions with bone substitutes. Eur Spine J 15, 1196–1203 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-005-0052-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-005-0052-1

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