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Updated: May 14, 2026
Endoscopic Septoplasty with Limited Two-line Resection: Minimally Invasive Surgery for Septal Deviation
Published on: June 20, 2018
Shape fidelity of native and engineered human nasal septal cartilage
Marsha S Reuther1, Kristen K Briggs, Monica K Neuman
1Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92161, USA. mkadze@gmail.com
Objective:
To test engineered and native septal cartilage for resistance to deformation and remodeling under sustained bending loads and to determine the effect of bending loads on the biochemical properties of constructs.
Study Design:
Prospective, basic science.
Setting:
Laboratory.
Subjects And Methods:
Human septal chondrocytes from 6 donors were used to create 12-mm constructs. These were cultured for 10 weeks and subjected to bending for 6 days. Free-swelling controls and native tissue from 6 donors were used for comparison. Shape retention, photo documentation, live-dead staining, and biochemical properties were measured.
Results:
Live-dead staining showed no difference in cell survival between loaded constructs and free-swelling controls. The immediate shape retention of the constructs was 39.0% versus 24.4% for native tissue (P = .13). After 2 and 24 hours of relaxation, the constructs possessed similar shape retention to native tissue (26.9% and 16.4%; P = .126; 21.7% and 14.4%; P = .153). There was no significant change in construct shape retention from immediately after release to 2 hours of relaxation (39.0% and 26.9%, respectively; P = .238). In addition, the retention did not change significantly between 2 and 24 hours of relaxation (26.9% and 21.7%; P = .48). There was no significant difference in biochemical properties between loaded constructs and controls.
Conclusion:
The shape retention properties of human septal neocartilage constructs are comparable to human native septal cartilage. In addition, mechanical loading of neocartilage constructs does not adversely affect cell viability or biochemical properties. This study demonstrates that neocartilage constructs possess adequate shape fidelity for use as septal cartilage graft material.
