An experimental study on cranioplasty using alloplastic materials, such as hard silastic block and methylmethacrylate, upon a cat cranium has been carried out for the purpose of comparing the differences between the two implants.
Experimental animals were anesthetized with ketamine and pentothal sodium. Craniectomy was performed by an electric drill in each side of the cranium, one for silastic block and the other for methylmethacrylate, the diameter measuring about one centimeter.
Experimental animals were again anesthetized and sacrificed two months postoperatively. Local findings were thoroughly examined macroscopically and sections of adjacent bony tissue to the implants were taken for microscopic examination, as well as the underlying dura mater.
The results are as follows:
1) There was no meaningful difference between the two groups, i.e., the cranioplasty with silastic block implant and that wi´-h methylmethacrylate implant.
2) Approximately 30% of the group, in which the cranioplasty with methylmethacrylate implant was performed, showed slight increased vascularization, focal infiltration of chronic inflammatory cells surrounding capillary vessel and moderate fibrosis in the underlying dura mater, compared with the group performed with silastic implant.
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