The significance of intramedullary cancellous bone formation in the repair of bone marrow tissue

Abstract The repair of hemopoietic bone marrow following evacuation of the tibial or femoral cavity of the rat was sequentially studied with the light microscope. A stereotyped train of histologic events occurred. These were capillary invasion of the cavity, appearance of primitive mesenchymal cells, osteoblastic proliferation, cancellous bone formation, development of sinusoids, reappearance of hemopoietic tissue and resorption of cancellous bone. The studies suggest that restoration of marrow sinusoids takes place only in the interstices of cancellous bone. Mechanical disruption of the sinusoidal system is one method of triggering cancellous bone formation. The cancellous bone which appeared after injury was thought to be produced by endosteal osteoblasts and osteoblasts derived from cells residing in normal hemopoietic tissue. Localized radiation of the tibia followed by mechanical disruption of hemopoietic tissue demonstrated that cancellous bone production and the repair process were unimpaired by 1,000 r but were completely blocked by 4,000 r. This would imply that the cell which can differentiate into an osteoblast is resistant to 1,000 r.