[Prosthesis of ligament by specially treated collagenous tissue.]

Artificial prostheses of ligaments are associated with many problems. At first they take over the function of the ligament, later however their strength declines. Therefore at present collagen autotransplants are prefered. Prosthesis made from processed seem however promising, after their breakdown they should be replaced by the patient's connective tissue with an orientation of fibres resembling the original ligament. The poor results reported in the literature are probably due to inadequate treatment of these ligaments. The authors mention their own method of treatment of collagen and its use as a prosthesis of ligaments in experiments on dogs. These ligaments were investigated by histological methods after an interval of 3 and 6 months following operation. The reported results are promising. Histological examination revealed incorporation of connective tissue into the artificial collagen and the connective tissue fibres were oriented parallel with the implanted ligament. Further investigation call for long-term implantation, but even the present investigation confirms that treatment of collagen in the described manner is a suitable method. Key words: xenograph, arteficial ligament replacement, tendon prosthesis.