Local tissue of the lumbar spine response to titanium plate--screw system. Case reports.

Abstract

This study reported the histopathologic findings of peri-implant tissue harvested from two patients with titanium plate-screw fixation in the lumbar spine. To describe and discuss the histopathologic findings with regard to local tissue response to the titanium plate-screw system in the lumbar spine. There are no reports about local tissue of the lumbar spine response to titanium plate-screw system in the literature. Two patients who underwent titanium plate-screw fixation in the lumbar spine were evaluated for this study. Histopathologic evaluation of the specimens from these cases included soft tissue, bone, and cartilage from the areas around the screws and plates. The primary histopathologic changes of the two cases included fibrous scarring, accumulation of metallic debris, both free in the fibrous tissue and within macrophages, and mild histiocytic and epithelioid changes. The histopathologic findings of the two cases presented resulted in local tissue response of the lumbar spine to titanium similar to tissue response in other previously reported cases.