The anterior chamber of the eye of the albino rat was found to be well suited as an ectopic site for a visual study of the vascularization of bone-graft material.
The pattern and rate of vascularization of the calf-bone heterografts of large size and small-particle size were studied at intervals throughout twenty weeks. Autogenous cancellous bone was used for comparison, and 121 implantations were performed.
Vascular penetration of the heterograft when it is in the form of a conglomerate paste occurs as rapidly as it does in the cancellous-bone autograft of large-particle size. There appears to be no particular barrier to vascular penetration. Large-size heterografts, on the other hand, do not demonstrate any degree of deep penetration but do show a surface vascularization.
There is no appreciable difference in the host vascular response to various types of calf-bone heterografts of large size, whether they are "fresh" or stored in plasma or saline solution.