The relationship between revascularisation and osteogenesis in fresh or demineralised bone grafts

Bone formation generally depends on adequate blood flow. Failure of bone grafts has been attributed to delayed revascularisation of the graft. We compared the relationship between revascularisation and osteogenesis, evaluated as entrapment of (141)Ce-labelled microspheres and uptake of (85)Sr, respectively, in fresh or demineralised syngeneic bone grafts 3 weeks after heterotopic implantation in rats. Whereas a moderately high linear correlation between (85)Sr and (141)Ce radioactivity was found both in the (intact) host iliac bone (r = 0.75, p = 0.0001) and implanted fresh syngeneic grafts (r = 0.50, p = 0.001), no correlation could be demonstrated in demineralised grafts (r = 0.09, p = 0.6). The results may indicate differences in the mechanisms of vascularisation and osteogenesis in the grafts used fresh or after demineralization but are, at present, difficult to fully explain.