Clinical application of platelet-rich fibrin as the sole grafting material in maxillary sinus augmentation.

Abstract

Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) was first described by Choukroun et al in 2001. PRF is derived from an autogenous preparation of concentrated platelets without any manipulation. PRF is a consistent fibrin biomaterial enriched with platelets and growth factors, after starting from an anticoagulant-free blood harvest. Recently, PRF has been used as an autologous grafting material because of its ability to accelerate physiologic wound healing and new bone formation. The present study reports a patient who received maxillary sinus floor augmentation with simultaneous implant placement using PRF as the sole grafting material with radiologic and histologic analyses. A 59-year-old man suffered from atrophy of maxillary posterior edentulous areas that required a sinus lift before implantation. Preoperative panoramic radiograph exhibited bilateral maxillary bone atrophy with a residual crest height of <5 mm (Fig. 1A). PRF clots and membranes were prepared as described previously. During surgery, 72 mL whole blood was drawn into eight glass-coated plastic tubes without anticoagulant and was immediately centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 12 minutes (Process, Nice, France). Sinus augmentation followed the lateral wall protocol with local