Sugar cane biopolymer membrane as dura mater substitute in wistar rats

THESES

Sugar cane biopolymer membrane as dura mater substitute in wistar rats (abstract)^*. Thesis. Recife, 2008.

Frederico de Melo Tavares de Lima ^**

BACKGROUND: Duraplasty is necessary in nearly 30% of all neurological surgeries.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the utilization of the sugar cane biopolymer membrane patch as a dural substitute in rats.

METHOD: Forty adults males Wistar rats weighing 300-440g were randomly divided into two groups: a control and an experimental. All animals were anesthetized with an intraperitoneal injection of chloral hydrate in solution of 10%, and placed in a prone position. Bilateral frontoparietal craniectomy was performed, and a dural defect was created. The arachnoid underlying defect was disrupted with a narrow hook. In the control animals, the defect was repaired with a disc of ePTFE. The experimental group received a membrane of sugar cane biopolymer over the cerebral cortex. No sutures in the dural patch were used in all cases. At the end of the procedure, the scalp was closed primarily in two layers. The rats were killed at 120 days. The heads were fixed by an intra-arterial injection of 10% formalin solution, followed by immersion in 10% formalin solution. After seven days of fixation, the specimens were embedded in paraffin, and the dural substitute and subjacent brain were collected en bloc. Histological sections of the biopsies were stained with hematoxilyn/eosin and evaluation was performed comparing healing and inflammatory reaction.

RESULTS: All the animals survived to the period of 120 days to clinical observation. There were no cases of infection, cerebrospinal fluid fistulae, delayed hemorrhages, behavior disturbances, seizures and palsies. The histopathological changes of leptomeninges were semi-quantitatively scored according the inflammatory responses or foreign body reaction in the outer and inner surfaces of the membrane, the host capacity in contention the implants, and the propensity in assimilate the prosthesis. The histological findings didn't demonstrate statistical difference between groups concerning the parameters analyzed except that the biopolymer has been slowly absorbed (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: The sugar cane biopolymer membrane can be used as dural substitute in rats and it evolves to be absorbed by the hostess.

Key words: dura-mater, sugar cane biopolymer, expanded polytetrafluoroethylene.

*

Membrana de biopolímero de cana de açúcar como substituto de dura-máter em ratos/wistar (Resumo). Tese de Doutorado, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (Área: Cirurgia clínica e experimental ). Orientador: José Lamartine de Andrade Aguiar .

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  05 June 2009
• Date of issue
  June 2009