ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Among its different therapeutic functions, the use of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) for more than a decade has has stood out in the replacement of the volumes lost with the aging process and filling in wrinkles and creases. It is considered a permanent biomaterial despite its reliability is widely discussed by health professionals.
Objective:
To analyze the size of the microspheres in of three different commercialized types of PMMA, and the inflammatory process generated by the implant, as well as to evaluate possible migration of the microspheres.
Methods:
The polymers of the brands Biossimetric®, MetaCrill® and Linnea Safe® were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and had the dispersion and the size of its particles determined. After this analysis, it was decided to implant in BALB/c mice the polymer of the brand Linnea Safe®, which was the more homogeneous product. The animals submitted to polymer implantation were euthanized at 3, 7, 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after implantation, allowing the weighing of the implanted paws and the histopathological analysis of some tissues.
Results:
It was observed that the implantation of Linnea Safe® PMMA microspheres in mice triggered an acute inflammatory process 3 to 15 days after the surgical procedure, evolving to chronic non-granulomatous inflammation with collagen deposition, tissue reorganization after 30 days of PMMA implantation up to 120 days; also, no microspheres were observed in distant organs.
Conclusion:
The Linnea Safe® PMMA behaved as a safe and stable biomaterial, once its microspheres were sized to prevents phagocytosis, and leads to local and controlled inflammation.
Key words:
polymethyl methacrylate; foreign-body migration; inflammation; pathology
