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www.elsevier.com/locate/orthres
Journal of Orthopaedic Research 22 (2004) 1316–1324
A histomorphological study of tendon reconstruction toa hydroxyapatite-coated implant: regeneration of
a neo-enthesis in vivo
C.J. Pendegrass a,*, M.J. Oddy a, S.R. Cannon b, T. Briggs b,A.E. Goodship c, G.W. Blunn a
a The Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Institute of Orthopaedics & Musculo-Skeletal Science,
Brockley Hill, Stanmore, Middlesex HA7 4LP, UKb The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore, Middlesex HA7 4LP, UK
c The Royal Veterinary College, North Mimms AL9 7TA, UK
Received 21 January 2004; accepted 24 March 2004
Abstract
The attachment of tendons and ligaments to massive endoprostheses remains a clinical challenge due to the difficulty in achieving
a soft tissue implant interface with a mechanical strength sufficient to transmit the forces necessary for locomotion. We have used an
in vivo animal model to study patellar tendon attachment to an implant surface. The interface generated when the patellar tendon
was attached to a hydroxyapatite (HA) coated implant was examined using light microscopy and a quantitative histomorphological
analysis was performed. In the Autograft Group, the interface was augmented with autogenous cancellous bone and marrow graft,
and at six weeks an indirect-like insertion was observed. At twelve weeks, the interface was observed to be a layered neo-enthesis,
whose morphology was similar to a normal direct tendon insertion. In the HA Group, the tendon–implant interface was not
augmented, and the implant was enveloped by a dense collagenous fibrous tissue.
This study shows that a tendon–implant neo-enthesis can develop in situ by employing a suitable implant surface in association
with biological augmentation.
� 2004 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Inadequate attachment of the patellar tendon fol-
lowing proximal tibial replacement results in impaired
extensor mechanism function at the knee [4,5,24]. There
are many contemporary methods employed to recon-
struct the soft tissue–implant interface [4,14,17,24,
29,33], but poor fixation can result in tendon shortening
and detachment, patella alta, quadriceps atrophy andaltered gait [5,24]. Clinical retrieval data is limited,
hence the morphology of the resulting interface is poorly
understood. Despite these problems, limb-salvage sur-
gery with massive endoprosthetic replacement of bone
defects remains the treatment of choice for certain tu-
mours of the musculoskeletal system [19].
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-020-8954-0268; fax: +44-
0208420-7392.
E-mail address: [email protected] (C.J. Pendegrass).
0736-0266/$ - see front matter � 2004 Orthopaedic Research Society. Publis
doi:10.1016/j.orthres.2004.03.022
A normal epiphyseal tendon–bone interface is a directenthesis uniting tissues with differing biomechanical
properties. The junction can be shown to redevelop fol-
lowing surgery to implant tendon into bone, although
the early stages of union resemble an indirect enthesis
[27,31]. Experimental observations have suggested that
the free end of the tendon undergoes some initial
degenerative changes [39,42]. Permanent integration oc-
curs as a result of progressive mineralization from thewalls of the bone tunnel into a collar of soft tissue callus
surrounding the tendon [15,26,38]. Regeneration of a
layered enthesis occurs after an intermediate phase,
during which the collagen fibres of woven bone are an-
chored to the fibre bundles of the scar tissue surrounding
the tendon [35].
Functional testing of a neo-enthesis to bone has shown
that by twelve weeks, sufficient interface strength can berecovered, such that failure during pull-out studies oc-
curred at another site [35]. These findings are comparable
hed by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
C.J. Pendegrass et al. / Journal of Orthopaedic Research 22 (2004) 1316–1324 1317
with functional testing of an intact tendon–bone junction,in which failure occurred preferentially at tendon mid-
substance or through sub-chondral bone, but rarely
through the layered enthesis [16]. Despite evidence for the
re-establishment of a direct enthesis at the tendon–bone
interface, there are few reports of regeneration and
attachment of a tendon to a metallic prosthesis.
The hypothesis in this study is that a tendon–implant
interface can develop, whose morphology resembles anormal enthesis. The application of a bioactive coating
on the implant surface and the use of autogenous can-
cellous bone and marrow graft were selected in an at-
tempt to generate an in vivo bone block. We feel that
this in vivo construct would provide the necessary
bioactive components for a successful tendon–implant
attachment. We have employed an ovine model to sim-
ulate the attachment of a tendon to a massive endo-prosthesis, and have studied the morphology of the
resulting neo-interface using light microscopy over a
twelve-week period.
Fig. 1. Plan view of tendon clamp; showing base plate (BP) with HA
coating and six spikes (S); and clamp lid (CL) with three spikes (S) and
drill hole perforations (DH); unassembled (A) and assembled (B).
Method
Implant
A customised titanium alloy (Ti–6Al–4V) base plate (30 mmlength) with a 70 lm plasma-sprayed coating of CAPTAL�
hydroxyapatite (Plasma Biotal Limited, Tideswell, UK) was producedto simulate the extra-medullary surface of a proximal tibial replace-ment. Nine interlocking press-fit spikes (1 mm diameter; 4 mm length)on the base plate and a clamp lid (20 mm length) provided the initialmechanical stability of the tendon–implant construct (Fig. 1(A)–(B)).The clamp provided an enclosed environment to isolate the biologicalprocesses occurring at the tendon–implant interface from the under-lying bone surface. The lid was H-shaped and perforated with eleven1 mm drill holes to allow access from overlying tissues.
Study design
The study was based on a Project Licence protocol accepted underthe UK Home Office Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Twentyfour skeletally mature ovine ewes (Friesland breed) (55–90 kg) wereused in the study. In 12 animals (HA Group), the patellar tendon wasclamped directly onto the HA surface of the implant, whilst in theother 12 (Autograft Group), the tendon-HA interface was augmentedwith autogenous cancellous bone and marrow graft. The ovine stiflejoint is equivalent in form and function to the human knee, despiteanatomical differences, which do not necessarily allow a completecomparison. The ovine patellar tendon was selected for this modelsince sheep have a single true patellar tendon, whose most significantattachment is to the tibial tuberosity [1], with medial and lateral reti-nacular expansions as in the human knee. Other ruminants possessthree discrete patellar ligaments [13]. The size of the sheep, and hencethe ovine patellar tendon, are of a similar magnitude to that of thehuman, and during normal gait, a comparable physiological loading ofthe tendon–implant interface would occur.
Surgery
The animals received a sub-cutaneous pre-medication dose ofxylazine hydrochloride (0.2 mg/kg; Bayer plc, Bury St Edmonds,Suffolk, UK). Anaesthesia was induced using intravenous midazolam(2.5 mg stat dose; Roche Products Limited, Welwyn Garden City, UK)and ketamine hydrochloride (2 mg/kg; Fort Dodge Animal HealthLtd., South Hampton, UK), and was maintained with halothane 3%
(Merial Animal Health Ltd., Harlow, UK) and oxygen (4 l/min). Theright patellar tendon was approached through an 8 cm mid-line inci-sion over the stifle joint. The tendon was defined and elevated from thetibial tuberosity by sharp dissection. An osteotomy of the insertion sitewas performed with an oscillating saw to create a flat bone bed toaccommodate the base plate, which was attached with 2.7 mm self-tapping cortical bone screws (SYNTHES�, STRATEC Medical Ltd.,Welwyn Garden City, UK). In the Autograft Group, a slurry ofautogenous cancellous bone chips and marrow (1.5 g wet weight)harvested from the ipsilateral iliac crest was packed onto the wholelength of the HA surface of the implant. The clamp lid was assembledwith the stifle joint in extension (Fig. 2). The animals received doses ofsub-cutaneous ceftiofur antibiotic (1 mg/kg; Pharmacia & Upjohn,Northants, UK) intraoperatively and for five post-operative days,and intramuscular buprenorphine hydrochloride (10 lg/kg; Reckitt& Colman Products Ltd., Melton Mowbray, UK) for one post-oper-ative day. The animals were allowed to mobilize freely within a pen(3 · 4 m).
Histological analysis
Six animals from both Groups underwent euthanasia at six weeksusing intravenous 20% pentobarbital solution (J.M. Loveridge plc,Southampton, UK), and the remaining animals were killed by thesame method at twelve weeks. The normal (left) and operated patella-patellar tendon–proximal tibia units were harvested and fixed in 10%formalin for 10 days. The samples underwent ascending graded alcohol
Fig. 2. Plan view of clamped patellar tendon (T) with underlying bone
graft (BG), beneath clamp lid (CL).
1318 C.J. Pendegrass et al. / Journal of Orthopaedic Research 22 (2004) 1316–1324
dehydration, de-fatting in chloroform for five days, and embedding inLR White Resin (London Resin Company Limited, Reading, UK).Sections were cut, ground, and polished to 100 lm, stained withtoluidine blue and paragon, and underwent qualitative morphologicalassessment using an Olympus BH2 microscope (Olympus OpticalCompany Limited, Tokyo, Japan), linked to Zeiss KS300 3.0 imageanalysis software (Imaging Associates, Thame, UK). Three sections atone-third width intervals across the clamp were prepared for eachanimal. For each section, five fields of view along the length of the baseplate were observed at a magnification of ·100. A double-blind,quantitative analysis of collagen fibre orientation at the implant sur-face was performed by measuring the angles of elevation of the col-lagen fibres per field of view, with respect to the whole length of theHA-coated base plate which was taken as a point of zero reference,using Adobe� Photoshop� version 6.0.1 (Fig. 3(B)–(C)). The collagenfibre orientation in the normal patellar tendon–bone enthesis wasmeasured similarly, using the tangent to the surface of the tibialtuberosity as a point of zero reference (Fig. 3(A)). Comparisons weremade between the HA and Autograft Groups, and normal patellartendon–bone insertion using a Mann–Whitney U test (SPSS version10.1 for Windows). Semi-quantitative analysis of the bone–tendoninterface was carried out for all sections where bone graft was observedwithin the constraints of the clamp lid (20 mm from the proximalextent of base plate), whether associated with the HA coating or not.The tissue was described as either perforating-fibrous (Fig. 6(F)) orfibrocartilaginous (Fig. 7(B)) on the basis of the histological appear-ance at six and twelve weeks, and was expressed as a percentage. Theresults were tested for significance using a Mann–Whitney U test.
Fig. 3. Collagen fibre angle at insertion. Normal enthesis (A) ·100;Autograft Group (B) ·100; HA Group (C) ·200.
Results
All animals recovered well from the procedure and
early mobilization was observed in every case. One ani-mal developed a superficial wound infection that was
treated successfully with a five day course of ceftiofur. At
six and twelve weeks post-operation, vascular scar tissue
was observed overlying the implants. There was obvious
continuity between the unclamped and clamped tendon,
and no failures due to pull-out occurred. Regions of
ectopic calcification were observed in the tendon outside
the clamp in three out of six, and four out of six of theHA and Autograft specimens, respectively at six weeks,
and in two out of six, and four out of six of the HA and
Autograft specimens, respectively at twelve weeks.
Normal osseo-tendonous junction
The normal ovine patellar tendon insertion is a direct
enthesis composed of four distinct zones. The tissue
morphology alters as tendon, consisting of a dense
connective tissue of crimped, parallel, collagen fibres
Fig. 4. Normal osseo-tendonous junction, showing tendon (T), un-
mineralized fibrocartilage (UFC), tidemark (Tm), mineralized fibro-
cartilage (MFC) and bone (B) layers, stained with toluidine blue and
paragon; (A) bar¼ 1 mm; (B) chondrocyte-like cells (Ch) in lacunae
observed in UFC layer, bar¼ 100 lm.
Fig. 5. Low power image of a section showing the tendon (T), mid-
substance (MS), interface (I) and ingrowth (D) regions.
C.J. Pendegrass et al. / Journal of Orthopaedic Research 22 (2004) 1316–1324 1319
interspersed with spindle-shaped elongated fibroblast
nuclei, inserts into bone through regions of un-miner-alized and mineralized fibro-cartilage, with rounded cells
set in lacunae surrounded by a darkly stained amor-
phous matrix (Fig. 4(A)–(B)). The bone layer shows a
thin shell of cortical lamellar bone, beneath which lies
the cancellous bone of the proximal tibia. The deep
surface of the attachment shows a higher proportion of
cartilaginous tissue in keeping with the compressive
loads encountered there.
Tendon–implant interface
The low power image shown in Fig. 5 shows a lon-gitudinal section through the implant and clamped
tendon. At low magnification at both time points,
normal tendon (T) was seen to progress into a region
of clamped mid-substance tendon (MS). The tendon–
implant interface (I) in the HA Group consisted of
a tendon–HA interface only. By comparison, in the
Autograft Group both tendon–bone and tendon–HAinterfaces were observed, due to inconsistent bone graft
retention at the HA surface. A region of ingrowth (D)
from overlying vascular connective tissue was observed
in both Groups through the drill holes in the clamp lid
and distal to the end of the clamp lid. Subsequent figure
regions will be referred to those denoted in Fig. 5.
Six weeks post-operation
In both study Groups, normal tendon (T) running
from the patella towards the entrance of the clamp
consisted of crimped dense collagenous tissue with
parallel-orientated fibres interspersed with numerouselongated fibroblast nuclei. This region progressed into
the mid-substance (MS) clamped tendon which was a
tissue of mixed morphology consisting predominantly of
tissue displaying a normal parallel alignment of collagen
fibres along the line of tensile loading (Fig. 6(A) (Region
MS)), however some loss of fibre orientation was ob-
served (Fig. 6(B) (Region MS)). Fibroblast nuclei were
plump and oval in shape, and a mixed inflammatoryinfiltrate was observed, with populations of lympho-
cytes, macrophages and the occasional giant cell.
In the HA Group a disorganized fibrous tissue layer
was observed at the tendon–HA interface (Fig. 6(E)
(Region I)). In the Autograft Group, bone was observed
undergoing active remodelling (Fig. 6(C) (Regions I and
MS)). Where bone graft was intimately associated with
the HA layer, an interface was observed, with tendonattached to the bone graft–HA construct via perforating
collagen fibres (Fig. 6(F)–(G) (Region I)). Where no
bone was seen at the HA surface the interface between
the tendon and HA was similar to that observed in the
HA Group. In some sections, bone was observed away
from the HA surface. The interface between the tendon
and these bone islands (Fig. 6(D) (Region MS)) was
Fig. 6. Histology at six weeks; (A) HA Group section showing clamped mid-substance with some parallel-orientated fibres, bar¼ 100 lm; (B) HAGroup section of disorganized collagenous tissue, bar¼ 100 lm; (C) Autograft Group section of bone undergoing active remodelling with visible
osteoblasts (Ob) and osteoclasts (Oc), bar¼ 100 lm; (D) Autograft Group section showing perforating-fibrous interface. Collagen fibres (CF)
anchoring to woven bone (WB), bar¼ 100 lm; (E) HA Group section of disorganized fibrous tissue adjacent to HA-coated base plate (BP) in HA
Group, bar¼ 200 lm; (F) bar¼ 100 lm, and (G) bar¼ 50 lm, Autograft Group section of soft tissue–bone–HA perforating-fibrous interface with
collagen fibres (CF) anchoring soft tissue to bone; (H) HA Group section of tissue ingrowth (D) over edge of clamp lid (CL), bar¼ 200 lm.
1320 C.J. Pendegrass et al. / Journal of Orthopaedic Research 22 (2004) 1316–1324
C.J. Pendegrass et al. / Journal of Orthopaedic Research 22 (2004) 1316–1324 1321
similar to that between tendon and bone retained onthe HA surface (Fig. 6(F) (Region I)). In some sections
in both Groups, small regions of the central tendon
mid-substance displayed areas of fatty and vacuolar
degeneration with a sparse network of collagen fibres,
interspersed with denser collagenous matrix. Ingrowth
of the overlying tissues occurred through the drill holes
in the lid of the clamp and into the open region above
the distal base plate (Fig. 6(H) (Region D)). Bone andmarrow slurry that had been packed onto the HA sur-
face of the distal section of the base plate (10 mm length
not constrained by clamp lid) was not observed, and the
tendon–implant interface in this region was similar to
that observed in the HA Group, as a disorganized fi-
brous tissue layer.
Twelve weeks post-operation
In both Groups, the tendon mid-substance (MS) and
ingrowth (D) regions consisted predominately of densecollagenous tissue, with crimped fibres parallel to the
direction of tensile loading (Fig. 7(A)). The fibroblast
nuclei had adopted a more elongated morphology
compared with those observed at six weeks. In the HA
Group the tendon remained in close contact with the
HA coating, and was observed as a dense collagenous
Fig. 7. Autograft Group histology at twelve weeks; (A) mid-substance mater
(B) Autograft Group fibrocartilaginous interface with regions of tissue contai
tissue interface in the HA Group showing soft tissue in close contact with the
HA Group interface showing dense collagenous tissue running parallel to H
tissue orientated parallel to the surface of the implant(Fig. 7(C)–(D)(Regions I and MS)). In the Autograft
Group, the tendon–bone interface had developed a
layered morphology with a clearly defined fibrocarti-
laginous zone (Fig. 7(B) (Region I)). This was observed
both in regions where bone remained intimately asso-
ciated with the HA layer, and also where bone islands
were found away from the HA surface. The unclamped
region of the base plate (10 mm length) in the AutograftGroup showed a tendon–implant interface similar to the
HA Group. Quantitative analysis showed there to be no
significant difference in the collagen fibre orientation to
the implant surface (mean± standard error) between the
HA (13.68�±0.87�) and Autograft (19.73�±1.02�)Groups (p > 0:05). The fibre orientations in both
Groups were significantly lower than the fibre insertion
angle at a normal patellar tendon enthesis (34.96�±2.55�) (p < 0:05). However, the difference in site-specific
collagen fibre orientation angle between the Autograft
Group and the normal patellar tendon enthesis (14.13�±1.77�) was found to be significantly lower than the dif-
ference observed between the HA Group and normal
patellar tendon enthesis (27.18�±3.54�) (p < 0:01). Inthe Autograft Group the nature of the interface between
the bone graft and tendon (within the constraints of theclamp lid), expressed as a mean percentage (± standard
ial with morphology resembling that of normal tendon, bar¼ 100 lm;ning chondrocyte-like cells (Ch) in lacunae, bar¼ 100 lm; (C) HA-softHA-coated base plate (BP), bar¼ 100 lm; (D) higher magnification ofA surface, bar¼ 50 lm.
1322 C.J. Pendegrass et al. / Journal of Orthopaedic Research 22 (2004) 1316–1324
deviation) were 16% (±1.4) fibrocartilaginous, and 84%(±5.7) perforating-fibrous at six weeks. By twelve weeks
the interface proportions were 76% (±3.4) and 24%
(±1.6), respectively. The bone graft–tendon interfaces in
the Autograft Group were significantly more fibrocar-
tilaginous in nature at twelve weeks compared to those
at six weeks (p < 0:01). In the HA Group no bone was
found within the clamp and hence no semi-quantitative
analysis of tendon–bone interface was performed.
Discussion
Tendon and ligament insertions into bone are char-
acterized based on their differences in morphology into
direct and indirect [2,8,36]. The normal ovine patellar
tendon insertion displayed the characteristics of a direct
enthesis, with four distinct zones; tendon, fibrocartilage,
mineralized fibrocartilage and bone [10,41].
The morphology reported in tendon–bone tunnel
models has shown collagen fibres spanning the devel-oping interface between tendon and the woven bone
tunnel lining [25,27,31,35,38,39]. The environment
within the clamp is unlike that observed with tendon
healing in a bone tunnel due to the presence of a metal
implant. However, we feel that augmentation with
autogenous bone and marrow graft applied to the HA-
coated implant surface created an environment capable
of supporting the development of a tendon–implantattachment. The presence of perforating collagen fibres
between tendon and bone in the Autograft Group at six
weeks is consistent with development of an indirect
enthesis. In the HA Group, and areas of HA not cov-
ered with bone graft in the Autograft Group, fibrous
tissue encapsulation was observed. Absolute values
for fibre orientation at the interface did not reach sig-
nificance between the HA and Autograft Groups. Inthe Autograft Group, the interface contained regions
with both tendon–HA and tendon–bone attachment,
consisting of both indirect and direct type interfaces
(described here as perforating-fibrous and fibrocarti-
laginous, respectively). The collagen fibre angles in both
of these regions within the same sections contributed to
the overall results, and were in part responsible for the
apparent lack of statistical significance despite obviousqualitative differences in morphology. However, the site-
specific analysis highlighted that regions with and
without bone at the interface display significant differ-
ences of collagen fibre orientation. We speculate that the
overall variation in interface morphology between the
HA and Autograft Groups is predominately due to
biological augmentation with marrow and bone, since
both Groups were exposed to a similar local mechanicalenvironment. However, the presence of the additional
bone graft volume may have influenced the degree of
tendon compression, and thus affect the morphology of
the tissue formed. Collagen fibre insertion angle in thenormal enthesis varies with position along the tuberosity
and we have presented a mean value. Variation in fibre
orientation with respect to bone or implant surfaces has
been shown to reflect the nature and integrity of the
resulting attachment [11]. The flat implant surface, and
angle of osteotomy may have contributed to the shallow
insertion angles observed in the experimental groups,
and thus the local mechanical environment may haveinfluenced our findings. In addition, collagen fibre ori-
entation varies with indirect and direct type insertions
[43], and their relative proportions will affect our ob-
served values, hence reflect the degree of maturation of
the neo-enthesis.
The marrow provided a source of pluripotent cells
with osteogenic potential [3,6,28], whilst the trabeculae
of the cancellous bone provided an osteoconductivescaffold for subsequent remodelling. HA has been shown
to induce differentiation of pluripotent cells along the
osteoblast linage [37], provide a bioactive surface that
can support mineralization [9,30,32] and induce collagen
synthesis [40]. In our study, biointegration was observed
with bone in intimate apposition with the HA-coated
base plate.
At twelve weeks, fibrocartilaginous regions betweenthe tendon and bone trabeculae in the Autograft Group
differentiated the interface from that observed in the
Autograft Group at six weeks and the HA Group at
the both time points. Semi-quantitative analysis of the
amount of fibrocartilaginous tissue present at the bone
graft–tendon interface showed an increase of 60% be-
tween six and twelve weeks. This was consistent with
observations in longer-term tendon–bone tunnel healingstudies [35] and models of anterior cruciate ligament
reconstruction [34], where a transition from an indirect
to direct morphology has been characterized. Other
studies have shown the absence of interface maturation
[20,25], however the type of model and study duration
may have contributed to these findings. We acknowl-
edge that the fibrocartilaginous tissue could represent
progression of endochondral ossification rather than atrue four-zoned direct interface and feel that longer term
follow-up would help clarify the fate of this tissue.
Limitation of bone graft retention meant that the
tendon–bone–HA interface was observed to a maximum
of 66% of the base plate length (constrained clamped (20
mm) as a proportion of base plate (30 mm)). The semi-
quantitative analysis of the tendon–bone interface was
performed regardless of whether the bone was attachedto the HA surface, and reflects the nature of the inter-
face rather than the problem of bone–HA association
we experienced with our methodology. We feel that a
combination of factors including graft resorption, de-
fects created during resin polymerisation and the use of
morcelised bone chips contributed to poor graft reten-
tion. We propose that the addition of a macro-textured
C.J. Pendegrass et al. / Journal of Orthopaedic Research 22 (2004) 1316–1324 1323
substrate for the HA coating and the use of a bone blockrather than morcelised graft may encourage more min-
eralized tissue ingrowth, as demonstrated by previous
Research Groups [9,12,30]. Other attempts to reattach
soft tissues to metal implants augmented with bone
graft, have observed graft resorption and replacement
with a ‘thick collagen bundle’ [22,23]. However, marrow
supplementation of a bone plate has been shown to
initiate an osteoinductive reaction at the tendon–implant interface in other studies in this field [7]. The
implant we used and our study design are similar to
previous work published in this journal, which showed
comparable histological reconstitution of a layered
tendon–bone–implant interface with functional weight-
bearing recovery of 90.3% at sixteen weeks [21].
The mechanical fixation provided by the interlocking-
spike mechanism enabled immediate unprotected weightbearing, with no evidence for attachment failure. We
acknowledge that functional assessment with gait ana-
Fig. 8. (A) Prototype clamp device used in pilot study with solid lid; (B)
necrotic tendon at autopsy processed in paraffin wax and stained with
haematoxylin and eosin, bar¼ 100 lm.
lysis or direct biomechanical testing would provide use-ful objective data to supplement the histomorphological
results presented here. By its nature, within the clamp
there will be compression of the tendon, and the internal
environment will be relatively avascular. We did not
observe tissue necrosis as a consistent finding, which
concurs with other work in this field where speculation
that perforation of a tendon under compression results
in less tissue damage [18]. A prototype design (Fig. 8(A))tested in a pilot study showed that a more enclosed
environment did lead to significant tendon necrosis (Fig.
8(B)). The modified H-shaped clamp lid with perforated
drill holes was designed as a compromise to optimise
ingrowth from the overlying tissues and allow vascular
infiltration, whilst maintaining sufficient mechanical
fixation to clamp the tendon. However, we speculate
that this design modification represents only one factorthat could influence the observed differences. We feel that
the clamp is a valid device for modelling tendon attach-
ment to an implant experimentally, but further study is
necessary before considering clinical application. We
conclude that tendon reconstruction to a metal implant,
augmented with autogenous cancellous bone and mar-
row has been shown to result in the development of a
neo-enthesis with morphological features similar to thoseobserved in time-course studies of tendon reattachment
to bone.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by Stanmore Implants
Worldwide Ltd.
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