Experimental facial augmentation with hydroxyapatite cement

To study the results of implantation of preformed hydroxyapatite (HA) disks and HA cement in onlay augmentation.

In this prospective study involving 16 adult New Zealand rabbits, HA disk and HA cement samples were implanted separately and together along the bony and cartilaginous nasal dorsum as well as over the supraorbital bone. Gross and histologic examinations of the implants were performed at intervals ranging from 3 to 24 months.

There was no evidence of infection, adverse reaction, or implant extrusion in the 15 rabbits surviving the planned period. Grossly, all rabbits had prominent noses and supraorbital regions that were immobile on digital palpation. No measurable change in HA disk height and width was noted but there was a 15% decrease in height and width in the HA cement implant. Microscopically, preformed HA disks were found to be enclosed in a vascularized fibrous capsule. When disks were combined with HA cement, a vascular fibrous capsule was still noted around the implant but there was osteoconversion in the underlying cement layer. Used alone, HA cement underwent both osteoconversion and osteointegration. Neither the preformed HA disk with and without HA cement nor the HA cement alone elicited giant cell reaction or inflammatory changes. The HA cement alone was found to have microscopic fissures at the edges.

This animal study suggests that preformed HA implants and HA cement, alone or in combination, can be used to augment the non-stress-bearing craniofacial skeleton.