FATE OF AUTOGENOUS SEPTAL CARTILAGE AFTER TRANSPLANTATION IN HUMAN TISSUES

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Abstract
Otolaryngologists and plastic surgeons agree that septal cartilage is not as good a material for transplantation as rib cartilage. The general belief persists that septal cartilage is absorbed after transplantation and cannot be relied on as a material for filling saddle defects of the nose or to afford structural support for the nasal tip. I have used autogenous septal cartilage grafts to correct small saddle depressions and to support the nasal tip in more than 500 cases and have failed to note gross absorption of the cartilage except when infection occurred after operation. Since my clinical experience differed from that of other plastic surgeons, I decided to check the accuracy of my observations by transplanting septal cartilage and removing it for microscopic examination at various intervals up to three years after transplantation. CLINICAL IMPORTANCE OF SEPTAL CARTILAGE GRAFTS Operations for displacement of the lower border of the septal cartilage utilize