Volume 466, Number 8, 1897-1904, DOI: 10.1007/s11999-008-0293-5

Quantification of Massive Allograft Healing with Dynamic Contrast Enhanced-MRI and Cone Beam-CT: A Pilot Study

Nicole Ehrhart, Susan Kraft, David Conover, Randy N. Rosier and Edward M. Schwarz

View Related Documents

Abstract

Although massive allografts are widely used for reconstruction of critical defects in long bones caused by tumor or trauma, many will have inadequate long-term outcomes. Toward a tissue engineering solution to this problem, we developed experimental stem cell and gene therapy adjuvants that induce angiogenesis, osteogenesis, and remodeling of the structural allografts. We present data from pilot studies to show the utility of dynamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) to quantify vascularity after femoral osteotomy in a canine femur model and cone beam CT (CB-CT) to quantify bone volume in a patient after composite prosthetic-allograft reconstructive surgery. The results demonstrate our ability to suppress the artifacts generated by the metal implants required to secure massive allografts such that precise quantification of cortical bone revascularization (>10-fold increase at 3 weeks postoperatively) and new bone formation (accurate to about 193 μm3) around the graft can be performed longitudinally via DCE-MRI and CB-CT, respectively.
One or more of the authors have received funding from the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (NE, SK, EMS) and from the NIH (NIH PHS AR054; RNR, EMS). One of the authors (DC) is an employee of Koning Corp, Rochester, NY.
Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the human and animal protocols for this investigation, that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research, and that informed consent for participation in the study was obtained.

Fulltext Preview

Image of the first page of the fulltext document