Experimental Study on the Biological Outcome of Auricular Cartilage and Costal Cartilage at Different Time Periods After Autologous Cartilage Rhinoplasty

Abstract

Since autologous cartilage is a good transplant material, it is widely used in various fields of clinical medicine. In this study, we collected clinical specimens obtained at different numbers of years after transplantation and used histologic staining to explore the post-transplantation changes in auricular cartilage and costal cartilage. A retrospective analysis was performed on patients who underwent primary autologous cartilage rhinoplasty and secondary rhinoplasty from 2017 to 2021, and the remaining autologous cartilage tissue after surgery was used for histologic testing. As time progressed after transplantation, the density of costal chondrocytes decreased first and then increased, while the secretion of type II collagen and extracellular matrix both decreased slightly. There was a clear boundary between the cartilage tissue and the surrounding connective tissue, and there was no ingrowth of blood vessels in the cartilage. Auricular cartilage showed a decrease in the integrity of the matrix edge. Moreover, local fibrosis was visible, and vascular ingrowth was observed at the edge of the cartilage. The content of type II collagen first increased and then decreased, and the cell secretion function was lower than that of normal chondrocytes. The results of the study suggest that the histologic outcome of elastic cartilage after transplantation is significantly different from that of hyaline cartilage. Moreover, costal cartilage was more stable than auricular cartilage after transplantation.

Chondrocyte harvest viability of auricular and nasal septal cartilage in a sheep model

“…Classically, articular cartilage is the most common source of chondrocytes for tissue engineering purposes, being readily available from several sites such as the proximal tibia or femur (Leone, 2011). For reconstructive surgery of the nose such as rhinoplasty, autologous cartilage is preferentially harvested locally from the nasal septum or when insu cient, costal cartilage from the rib which is similarly hyaline in nature with comparable rigidity and compression resistance (Wu et al, 2023;Yoon et al, 2021). Comparatively, for reconstruction of outer and middle ear structures such as in myringoplasty and partial pinna reconstruction, cartilage is preferentially harvested from local auricular sources containing elastic cartilage such as the tragus, antihelix or conchal bowl (González-Sixto et al, 2013; Otley & Sherris, 1998;Shekharappa, 2017).…”

“…Auricular cartilage has previously been proposed as a source of cartilage especially in revision rhinoplasty where there is a shortage of autologous septal cartilage and to bypass the morbidity of costal cartilage harvest (Lee et al, 2011;Zinser et al, 2013). However, owing to its elastic rather than hyaline nature, auricular cartilage grafts are more prone to brosis and loss of stability over time (Barone et al, 2022;Wu et al, 2023). Similarly, when utilising hyaline cartilage from the nasal septum or rib, its rigid nature and lower malleability differs signi cantly from native auricular cartilage affecting its suitability for pinna reconstruction (González-Sixto et al, 2013).…”