Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Sternal tumors extension and resection will lead to huge sternum wall defects, if not repair, the normal thoracic stability and the airtightness cannot be maintained, and often cause serious abnormal respiratory movement. The application of tissue engineering material in sternal tumors is the focus of the research now.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the method and the clinical application of tissue engineering in thoracic reconstruction after sternal tumors resection, and to summarize the research process of tissue engineering material.
METHODS: A computer-based search was performed on PubMed database and VIP database from January 1990 to February 2011 for the related literatures with the key words of “stemal tumors, reconstruction” in English and “stemal tumors, reconstruction, titanium plate” in Chinese. The literatures that related to the biomechanics of tissue engineering applications in the thoracic reconstruction after sternal tumors resection and the application of tissue engineering materials in the thoracic reconstruction after sternal tumors resection were included. A total of 100 literatures were obtained.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The materials used for the thoracic reconstruction are divided into two major categories: biological materials and artificial materials, including autologous bone, pericardium, fascia and allogeneic bovine fascia, pericardium, etc. Titanium plate can maintain the post-operative thoracic stability effectively. Titanium plate also has many advantages, such as not prone to rejection, long-term retention in the body, easy to disinfect and sterilize without affecting the CT scan, facilitate to model and fix, convenient, safe, and perfect repair and shaping effect. But the long-term efficacy still need to be further observed.