Bernhard Neumayer1, Eva Elisa Fischerauer2, Clemens Diwoky1, Annelie-Martina Weinberg2, Rudolf Stollberger1
1Institute of Medical Engineering, TU Graz, Graz, Austria; 2Department for Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
The formation of bone bridges can be initiated by physeal lesions or by implants advanced through the growth plate. An incomplete decomposition of these structures can lead to full or partial growth arrest. This study documented the formation of bone bridges and examined hypervascularity as one hypothesized underlying mechanism. Five Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to growth plate lesion and morphology and vascularity were observed using MRI. Polymerase chain reaction analyses for a different cohort being subjected to the same treatment investigated growth and oxygenation factors. Correlation of results of RRM and PCR analyses confirm hypervascularity prior to bone bridge formation.