CALVARIAL AND SUTURAL RE-DEVELOPMENT FOLLOWING CRANIECTOMY IN THE NEONATAL RABBIT

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  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 129  (SEP) , 413-422
Abstract
A subtotal calvariectomy was performed on rabbits between 10 and 14 days of age. The animals were allowed to grow and were then sacrificed serially so that the sutural and skeletal redevelopment could be analyzed through a combination of gross, radiographic and histologic techniques. Calvarial regeneration is a progressive process which demonstrates a definite pattern and rate of development. During the regenerative process, bone was deposited at the surgical margin and as islands within the surgical defect. The eventual approximation of these areas of ossification produced multiple fibrous articulations. The majority of these articulations were obliterated by bony union except for the midsaggital, coronal and metopic sutures, which were reestablished in their appropriate anatomic positions. The maintenance of dural integrity during the surgical phase and the establishment of pericranial continuity during the postoperative period are apparently important in the reestablishment of normal sutural and skeletal architecture.