IN UTERO ALLOGENEIC BONE TRANSPLANTATION IN PRIMATES. ROENTGENOGRAPHIC AND HISTOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS

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Abstract
Intrauterine allogeneic bone transplantation was performed on 25 monkey [Macaca mulatta] fetuses at 120-135 days of gestation. Two surgical techniques for orthotopic transplantation of the humeral midshaft were used. A segment (5-7 mm) of fetal humerus was transplanted from fetus (donor) to fetus (recipient). An intramedullary pin (Kirschner orthopedic wire) was used for fixation of the severed humerus. Without serving the humerus, a midshaft area (5-7 mm .times. 5-6 mm) was surgically ablated, while a bone paste composed of crushed bone particles mixed with an agar-enriched culture medium was sculpted to fill this lesion. Fresh frozen or fresh allograft tissue was used with equal success. observations included serial roentgenographic and histological evaluation of humeral osteogenesis and postnatal assessment of limb use. The contralateral arm served as a control. The immune surveillance system of fetal monkeys may be tolerant of these bone allografts; healing by substitution may also occur. Both of the transplantation procedures used here achieved restoration of the long bone. The use of bone paste allowed us to sculpt the allograft to the desired conformation. These results from laboratory primate models encourage continued investigation of fetal allogeneic bone transplantation, because of its ultimate potential for intrauterine repair of skeletal anomalies in man.

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