HISTOLOGIC EVALUATION OF THE SOFT-TISSUE RESPONSE TO SINTERED AUSTENITIC STAINLESS-STEEL FIBER STRUCTURES

Recently it has been supposed that the soft tissue response to fibre m esh materials can be influenced by changing the flexibility and/or por osity of these materials. Therefore, to test this hypothesis, small si ntered stainless steel (316L) fibre web implants with varying flexibil ities and porosities were inserted subcutaneously into the dorsum of r abbits. The implants were left in situ for 15 weeks. Histological and tissue compatibility evaluations were performed. It was found that the best tissue reaction developed around the most porous fibre web mater ial. Nevertheless, because of the possible occurrence of corrosion phe nomena, the real existence of a relationship between implant porosity and connective tissue behaviour is still not clear.