Introduction to Update on Osteochondral Allograft Surgery

Abstract

Progress in the surgery of bone transplantation requires understanding the unsolved problem of cell differentiation, with special reference to induced bone cell differentiation. Such knowledge as we have to share with each other on induced bone formation comes from two very recently investigated experimental systems. One consists of implants of bone matrix in muscle and subcutis. The other comes from explants of neonatal muscle connective tissue outgrowths in vitro. Both are more consistently reproducible in rodents than in long-lived dogs, monkeys, and human beings. Nevertheless, in the session on bone alternative, we have an unusual opportunity to review and discuss applications of experimentally induced bone cell formation for repair of bone defects. A potential pitfall of basic research is to extrapolate observations on rodents to bone repair problems in long-lived species.