Preserved Cartilage Research Articles

MECHANISM OF CORNEAL GRAFT HEALING

THE PURPOSE of this paper is to clarify the long-debated problem of the nature of a corneal graft. The crux of the problem is whether a corneal graft heals like a skin graft, in other words like a true graft, or like a boiled bone or preserved cartilage graft, often called a replacement graft. The previous work on cultures of corneal tissue has shown that the cells of the corneal stroma have the ability to divide and migrate.1With this in mind, it was felt that if a corneal graft were a true graft then donor cornea the cells of which had been activated by growth in tissue culture should heal rapidly in the recipient cornea. Accordingly, pieces of donor cornea were grown in tissue culture for varying lengths of time and then transplanted into the recipient corneas. Instead of rapid healing, all eyes revealed a marked repellent

CONTRIBUTIONS TO PLASTIC SURGERY DURING 1946

THREE articles among the numerous contributions on nasal plastic surgery in 1946 are of special importance: Brown and Cannon's review of operations in which composite grafts of skin and cartilage were used in the reconstruction of defects of the ala, Straith's presentation of the Z plastic procedure for elongating the columella, and Dupertuis' original contribution in which he describes how he successfully used composite grafts of skin and fat taken from ear lobes in the reconstruction of defects of the nasal tip and ala. Increasing evidence was presented indicating that the plastic surgeon should use autogenous cartilage and bone grafts whenever possible in preference to preserved cartilage, which is inferior grafting material. Experimental work with young human cartilage demonstrated growth of this cartilage following transplantation. Plastic surgeons are avoiding the use of living maternal ear cartilage and maternal rib cartilage for the reconstruction of a complete auricle. Cadaver cartilage is

USE OF PRESERVED CARTILAGE IN PLASTIC SURGERY OF THE EYE

THE USE of preserved cartilage in plastic surgery is not new. As Peer¹pointed out, this procedure was reported on more than fifty years ago but it gradually fell into disuse. Recently it has been revived, and several surgeons have reported excellent results with isografts of preserved cartilage. Thus, Brown²has used cartilage preserved in alcohol since 1928, with satisfaction in most cases. Peer³has used the same material to repair depressions in the brow, orbital socket, skull and nose. Pierce and O'Connor⁴employed cartilage preserved in solution of merthiolate in 182 cases, with excellent results. O'Connor⁵reported 375 cases in which "pickled" cartilage was used and expressed enthusiasm for its use. The advantages of using isografts of preserved cartilage instead of autografts of fresh cartilage are manifold and have been well covered in the literature previously cited. They may be enumerated as follows: The

A DEVICE FOR CUTTING OF CARTILAGE ISOGRAFTS

When a cartilage isograft is to be implanted in the nose, as in a saddle nose defect, or in the ear, as in microtia or anotia, it is always time consuming to carve by hand an implant of exactly the right dimensions and form to fill the defect. This is accomplished by whittling off from a block of preserved rib cartilage, with a Bard-Parker knife, small amounts of cartilage at a time until the proper dimensions have been reached. To whittle a straight line for a nasal dorsum or a smooth thin piece for an aural implant is always slow and difficult. The instrument shown in the accompanying illustration simplifies the fashioning of these cartilage isografts considerably. With it, a block of cartilage can be cut down to the right size and thickness rapidly. Then only a small amout of finishing by hand is necessary. With the common paper

PLASTIC SURGERY, 1940

Owing to the war, many foreign publications were not available for abstracting. A marked increase in articles on military surgery was noted; the literature in this field pertaining to plastic surgery is included in this review. Outstanding achievements during the year were the further development of sulfanilamide and its derivatives for use in the prevention and treatment of wound infections, the introduction of a noncapillary, non-irritating suture material made of synthetic plastics, the demonstration of the feasibility of using large calibrated skin grafts cut with the dermatome and the acceptance on a practical clinical basis of the use of preserved cartilage for implants to restore facial and nasal contours. The literature on plastic surgery for 1940 can be conveniently grouped under five headings: (1) results of clinical and laboratory research—general principles; (2) plastic operations on the face; (3) plastic operations on the nose; (4) plastic operations on the ears; (5)