Viability of cultured human nasal septum chondrocytes after crushing

To investigate how different degrees of crushing affect the viability of human nasal septum chondrocytes in adherent cell cultures.

Cartilage grafts were harvested from the nasal septa of 15 patients who underwent submucosal resection. Five cartilage pieces were prepared from each specimen as follows: the cartilage was left intact, slightly crushed, moderately crushed, significantly crushed, or severely crushed. Chondrocytes were isolated for trypan blue dye exclusion testing, and the numbers of viable cells were determined at 1, 2, 3, and 10 days after culturing. Comparisons were made among the groups.

The day 1 viability rates for the intact, slightly crushed, moderately crushed, significantly crushed, and severely crushed cartilage preparations were 96%, 92%, 82%, 72%, and 54%, respectively. The corresponding rates on day 10 were 93%, 90%, 84%, 75%, and 68%.

The viability and proliferative capacity of crushed human septal cartilage depend on the degree of crushing sustained. Slightly or moderately crushed cartilage grafts show good chondrocyte viability and proliferation and are valuable for fashioning soft nasal contours, filling defects, and concealing dorsal irregularities. However, significant or severe crushing reduces chondrocyte viability and proliferation and may result in unpredictable degrees of graft volume loss.