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Updated: Nov 27, 2025
Measuring Bone Remodeling and Recreating the Tumor-Bone Microenvironment Using Calvaria Co-culture and Histomorphometry
Published on: March 14, 2020
Cross-sectional analysis of spatial distribution and total amount of harvestable calvarian split bone
Florian Peters1, Marisa Wingels1, Stephan Christian Möhlhenrich2
1Department of Oral, Maxillofacial and Facial Plastic Surgery, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Aachen, Germany.
Background:
Bone resorption of the jaw leads to challenging implant placement. Frequently, augmentation of the jaw is necessary. Is calvarian split bone an alternative to other extraoral donor sites and what volume of bone is harvestable? The aim was to evaluate the spatial distribution and the total amount of harvestable calvarian split bone.
Material And Methods:
Computerized tomographies of 600 patients were divided into four groups (male and female: ≤45 years and >45 years). The skull was segmented and cut into the harvestable compartments (Os frontale, Ossa parietalia). The volume and thickness of the harvestable bone were calculated.
Results:
The overall harvestable bone was 110.644 ± 25.429 cm³. The bone from the Os frontale was significantly less than harvestable bone from the Os parietale (p < 0.001). More bone could be harvested from the right Os parietale. In younger males, significantly more bone could be harvested than in females (females ≤45 years: p = 0.001; females >45 years: p = 0.003). A weak negative correlation existed between the participants' age and the harvestable bone volume of the left Os parietale (r = -0.087; p = 0.033). The thickness of the harvestable bone from the Ossa parietalia is greater in females than in males.
Conclusion:
A great amount of calvarian bone can be harvested to augment the jaw. Surgeons must acknowledge that more bone is harvestable from males than females while the female bone is thicker. Calculating the volume leads to accurate results of the available bone.
