Bioactive glass S53P4 in frontal sinus obliteration: A long-term clinical experience

Background. Synthetic, osteoconductive, and antimicrobial bioactive glass (BAG) has been used in many surgical applications. Methods. BAG was used as obliteration material in a series of osteoplastic frontal sinus operations on 42 patients suffering from chronic frontal sinusitis, which could not be cured with other means of treatment. Results. Accurate obliteration of sinuses was achieved in 39 patients. Uneventful recovery and clinical outcome were seen in 92% of the patients. Histopathologic samples harvested at 1, 5, and 10 years after obliteration revealed a healing process progressing from the fibrous tissue phase to bone formation with scattered fibrous tissue and bony obliteration maintaining BAG granule remnants. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) studies showed bone produced by BAG to be similar to natural frontal bone. Micorobiologic cultures obtained with histologic samples revealed no growth of bacteria. Conclusions. BAG appears to be a reliable frontal sinus obliteration material, providing favorable conditions for total bony sinus obliteration. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.