Secondary repair of alveolar clefts using human mesenchymal stem cells

Recently tissue engineering has become available as a regenerative treatment for bone defects; however, little has been reported on the application of tissue engineering for regeneration of cleft defect tissues. Mesenchymal-derived stem cells were applied to different kinds of bone substitute and compared in different animal models, but their usage in human critical defects remained unclear. In this study we report 2 patients with unilateral alveolar cleft, treated with the composite scaffold of demineralized bone mineral and calcium sulphate (Osteoset) loaded with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Computed tomograms showed 34.5% regenerated bone, extending from the cleft walls and bridging the cleft after 4 months in one case and in the other there was 25.6% presentation of bone integrity. The available data revealed the conventional bone substitute was not a suitable scaffold for the MSC-induced bone regeneration. (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2009; 108:e1-e6)