Lyo-cartilage (also known as lyocartilage) is transformed into the patient’s own cartilage, which is why it can be described as a “biological miracle”. Lyocartilage was developed and experimentally studied by Professor Sailer at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1976/77. It has since been used with resounding success in hundreds of thousands of implantations worldwide.

What is lyophilised cartilage?

Lyophilised cartilage is freeze-dried cartilage from the ribs of organ donors. It is an ideal bone substitute. Lyophilised cartilage has no antigenicity, which means the body will not reject it.

It shows the lowest morbidity of all bone substitutes and becomes integrated into the patient’s own bone, which is why it can be called a “biological miracle”. Professor Sailer uses it in reconstructive craniofacial surgery for both pathological and aesthetic problems.

Hundreds of thousands of lyophilised cartilage implantations have been performed in hospital settings at the university clinic’s Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, where Professor Sailer was clinic director, as well as at many other university hospitals and institutes around the world.

The advantage of lyophilised cartilage is that there is no need to harvest the patient’s own material, such as cartilage or bone. This avoids possible secondary complications after surgery and also shortens the operating time.

Lyophilised cartilage can also be used in an infected area. It is resistant to infection and easy to use, and in reconstructive surgery for children, for example, it is often used in larger quantities than the patient’s own cartilage and bone.

Where lyo-cartilage is used

Professor Sailer most often uses lyophilised cartilage in aesthetic surgery: on the cheekbone and zygomatic arch, to augment the midface and nose, to enlarge the chin and to correct nasolabial folds and the labiomental fold.

In reconstructive craniofacial surgery, the following applications are distinguished:

  • reconstruction of the bones of the cranial vault,
  • the forehead region,
  • reconstruction of the orbital walls,
  • correction of the nostrils,
  • filling of bone cysts and chronically infected sinuses,
  • repair of cleft lip defects
  • correction of cleft palate, and much more.

Professor Sailer has written more than 30 scientific articles on this material and its applications, and has published a monograph entitled “Transplantation of Lyophilised Cartilage in Maxillofacial Surgery: Experimental Foundations and Clinical Success”.