Interrelationship between size and tissue-separating potential of costochondral transplants.

The aim was to determine whether the reportedly unpredictable outcome of the use of costochondral grafts in reconstructive surgery is related to variation in growth potential between the transplanted cartilages. A rib fragment including the costochondral junction was transplanted across the interparietal suture in 10-day-old rats. The transplants contained either a short, intermediate, or long cartilaginous end and a constant length of bone. The animals were killed 25 days later and the width of the neurocranium was measured from dry skulls. The neurocranium was wider the longer the cartilaginous end of the transplant. It is concluded that costochondral transplants have an intrinsic potential for separating skeletal components and that this capacity is closely related to the amount of cartilage in the transplant.