Use of polyethylene terephthalate and expanded-polytetrafluoroethylene in medialization laryngoplasty

Various materials have been used up to the present time in vocal fold augmentation. Although silicon has been the most frequently employed, the surgical difficulties encountered in shaping, positioning and placing this material have led to a search for a more easily applicable material. In our study, we investigated the local tissue reaction to implants in the laryngeal skeleton of 10 New Zealand rabbits in which we performed medialization laryngoplasty employing polyethylene terephthalate (PETP=Dacron) and expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE=Gore-Tex). When the local host tissue reaction to PETP and e-PTFE were compared, PETP was found to cause significant foreign body giant cell and histiocyte infiltration localized around fibres of the implant. The greater irregularity of the fibrous capsule formed in response to PETP and the density of foreign body giant cells around the PETP fibres suggested that resorption of the implant with time would decrease the degree of medialization.