Wound Hedaling: distortion and generation of cartilage

Distortion of a cartilage structure is defined as an acute change of form in reaction to a local injury. Wound healing is restricted to the site of the le- sion (Chapter 2A). Distortion may extend to non-injured parts or even to the total structure. Injury-induced distortions have previously been reported for rib cartilage [1,2] and nasal septum cartilage [3–6]. Distortion is considered to depend on cartilage specific biophysical properties. The resilient and elas- tic quality of cartilage has been ascribed to the high content (80%) of water bound by hydrophilic proteins embedded in a 3-dimensional network of col- lagen fibres. The fibrous component determines the specific form of the structure. Interruption of the fibrous network will alter the balance between the network and the protein-bound water, and cause an immediate change of form –distortion– of the cartilage by a ‘release of interlocked stresses’ [5].This hypothetical mechanism has been first exploited in surgery of the na- sal septum. Straightening of a curved part of septum cartilage can be accom- plished by ‘controlled distortion’, effectuated by a few parallel incisions (scoring) on the concave side [3]. Cricoid pathology, as observed in a few post-mortem specimens from neonates or very young children, also points to injury-induced distortion [7]. The results from previous animal studies, focusing on the long-term effects of various types of endolaryngeal trauma, further supported the hypothesis of injury-induced distortion [8–11]. Finally, in surgical practice it is common knowledge that an anterior split of the cricoid –as a first step in larynx sur- gery– invariably leads to an immediate gap between the cut ends due to re- traction (distortion) of the cartilage on both sides. The Chapters 2B, 2C and 2D focus on injury-induced distortion and deal with the following questions: 1. Is the gap, following an anterior cricoid split, the result of an intrinsic distortion of the cartilage and/or the effect of extrinsic forces from outside the cartilage, originating in soft tissues with an insertion on the cricoid? 2. Does the distortion of a split cricoid show any changes during a long- term follow-up? 3. Is the immediate and long-term distortion of a cricoid cartilage related to age

Ingeniería del tejido cartilaginoso: obtención de cartílago "in vitro" para su utilización en ingeniería de tejidos

317 p.Partiendo de la definición de la ingeniería de tejidos como el arte de reconstruir tejidos, ya sea estructural o funcionalmente, el presente trabajo se centra en algunos de los tipos de células que se pueden utilizar para la producción de tejido in vitro. Los tipos de células elegidos para el estudio fueron: cuadrocitos auriculares de conejo, células troncales derivadas de tejido adiposo abdominal (CTDTA) e inguinal de rata y células troncales de tejido adiposo, a partir de grasa infrapatelar, de caball