Purpose Coralline hydroxyapatite orbital implants have been used since the
1980s. More recently, synthetic hydroxyapatite orbital implants have been u
sed, in both primary and secondary orbital implantation surgery. The implan
t may be drilled and pegged, if required, after adequate vascularisation of
the implant has occurred. In this study we evaluated the clinical results
and vascularisation of synthetic hydroxyapatite orbital implants.
Methods Twelve consecutive patients who had synthetic hydroxyapaptite orbit
al implants were evaluated clinically and 8 of these patients had orbital m
agnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans with intravenous gadolinium performed
at least 9 months postoperatively to assess vascularisation of the implant
. Six patients had primary orbital implants at the time of enucleation and
6 patients had secondary implants.
Results No significant complications occurred following insertion of the sy
nthetic hydroxyapatite orbital implants. All patients reported cosmetic sat
isfaction with the results of surgery. MRI scans revealed inhomogeneous enh
ancement in 3 of the 4 patients receiving primary implants. All patients wi
th secondary implants and 1 patient who had a primary implant had moderate
to large areas of poor enhancement in the implant.
Conclusion Synthetic hydroxyapatite implants gave good clinical results but
variable vascularisation occurs, especially with secondary implants.