Abstract
Autologous platelet gel (AGP) is a source of concentrated growth factors contained in the platelet granules used to enhance bone quality and, especially, quicken bone formation in regeneration techniques, and also ameliorate the haemostasis in anti-coagulated patient management. The purpose of this study is to describe a technique to perform labelling of autologous platelet-gel with 111In -Oxine and to evaluate its usefulness, as a marker of bone osteoinduction by means of scintigraphy, after in vivo application in patients with jaw bone defects following cystic lesion enucleation and the extraction of deeply impacted lower third molar. All patients included in the study presented mandible bone defects following cyst enucleation or deeply impacted lower third molar extraction. In sterile conditions, 111In-Oxine AGP was added during the bone-milling phase of the graft preparation and then applied to the bone defects. The scintigraphy was performed 2 hours after the application of labelled AGP (early scan) and at 24, 48, 72, 384 hours (delayed scan). At early scan all the patients presented a high concentration of 111In-Oxine AGP, which was easily recognized at the level of jaw defect. Limited diffusion of AGP was seen in the tissue surrounding the bone defect; this activity was attributed to the presence, in the PRP, of a quote of autologous granulocytes, as marker of inflammatory process, which was labelled with 111In-Oxine. In order to demonstrate the persistence and stability of labelling AGP, abdominal scintigraphies were performed to assess the presence of activity in the liver, spleen and bone marrow. None of the patients presented appreciable activity in these organs. The labelled AGP topically applied showed high uptake values, without statistically significant activity in the surrounding tissues or in critical organs during the early phase, as well as in delayed controls, and confirmed a very low grade of loss of 111In-Oxine from the bone defect. The scintigraphy represents a useful method of assessing the success of surgical procedure for jaw bone defects performed with autogenous grafts. It is well accepted by the patients, offering at the same time a sensitive method of studying uptake of topically applied AGP and to follow up kinetics of AGP in order to correlate quantitative data of the platelet gel life span with evolution of the bone remodelling process. Finally, the labelled granulocytes around the bone defect allow to assess the inflammatory process evolution derived from the surgical technique.