Experimental repair of tracheal defects with gallbladder mucosa.

Surgical treatment of malignant and certain benign lesions of the trachea may require plastic reconstruction or segmental replacement. The ideal of a rigid yet elastic tube compatible with the tracheal environment remains a problem of great challenge. In spite of outstanding success with prosthetic materials in arterial replacement there has been no satisfactory solution to tracheal reconstruction with either prosthetics or host tissues. The most promising results have utilized inert materials for support of the lumen with or without the addition of covering tissue. In an effort to use the prosthetics only as a temporary support, investigation was undertaken of the possible adaptation of host tissues with osteogenic properties. Early experimental work of Huggins " 2 demonstrated the specific ability of urinary tract epithelium to induce new bone formation in ectopic locations. Following the report of Rush,3 who employed portions of urinary bladder mucosa for tracheal reconstruction , our preliminary studies demonstrated the gallbladder to have similar osteogenic potential.