Examination of the Correlation Between Hypervascularity and Physeal Bone Bridge Formation

Bernhard Neumayer¹, Eva Elisa Fischerauer², Clemens Diwoky¹, Annelie-Martina Weinberg², Rudolf Stollberger¹

The formation of bone bridges can be initiated by physeal lesions or by implants advanced through the growth plate. An incomplete decomposition of these structures can lead to full or partial growth arrest. This study documented the formation of bone bridges and examined hypervascularity as one hypothesized underlying mechanism. Five Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to growth plate lesion and morphology and vascularity were observed using MRI. Polymerase chain reaction analyses for a different cohort being subjected to the same treatment investigated growth and oxygenation factors. Correlation of results of RRM and PCR analyses confirm hypervascularity prior to bone bridge formation.