Obliteration of the frontal sinus cavity with bioactive glass

✍ Scribed by Matti Peltola; Jouko Suonpää; Kalle Aitasalo; Matti Varpula; Antti Yli-Urpo; Risto-Pekka Happonen

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 163 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1043-3074
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0347(199807)20:4<315::aid-hed6>3.0.co;2-1

✦ Synopsis

Background. Bioactive glass (BG) is a glass ceramic material. It has been used as surgical bone replacement material in ear and oral surgery, orthopedics, and dentistry.

Methods. Bioactive glass was used as obliteration material in a series of osteoplastic frontal sinus operations on 10 patients suffering from chronic frontal sinusitis, which other, moreconservative treatment modalities had failed to cure.

Results. Bioactive glass is easy to handle, and complete obliteration of all sinusal recesses and excavations is easily achieved. No adverse effects of the implant material have been seen over a mean follow-up period of 5.0 years. One patient with a local recurrent infection in the outer table of the sinus was reoperated on 5 months after primary surgery. Repeated postoperative computed tomographic scans analyzed by digital region-of-interest (ROI) selection showed no remarkable changes in the frontal sinus cavities but a slight, yearly decrease in the density of the occlusion material. Laboratory monitoring of patients and histopathologic examination of two postoperative biopsy specimens indicated that the material is well tolerated and stable.

Conclusions. Bioactive glass is a promising and welltolerated bone graft suitable for osteoplastic frontal sinus operations. Total accurate obliteration of the sinus is achieved with different sizes of granules and blocks. The results of the oblitera-tion are maintained owing to the stability of the material.