Rabbit is suitable for establishing an animal model of rhino-sinusitis / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Using experimental animals to simulate diseases of human being is the basis of studying etiology and treatment of the diseases, so the diseases of nasal cavity and sinus need suitable experimental animals as models. OBJECTIVE:To observe the regional anatomy of rhino-sinus in rabbits and its performance through CT imaging, and to discuss the feasibility of applying a rabbit model to the study of animal rhino-sinusitis. METHODS:Routine coronal and axial scanning images of rhino-sinus of New Zealand rabbits were performed through Discovery CT750 HD. The rhino-sinus anatomy was then observed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The nasal septum is located on both sides of the nasal cavity. The lateral wal of rabbit nasal is composed of maxil ary turbinate, middle turbinate, the inside of the middle turbinate and inferior turbinate. The maxil ary sinus cavity is the largest one and ethmoid sinus, sphenoid sinus and frontal sinus are relatively much smal er. Al these sinuses are paired and symmetrical. The rhino-sinus in rabbit is displayed clearly in CT scan. The anatomical location of rabbit is similar to that of human;however, the maxil ary sinus of rabbit is greater than that of human correspondingly, which is suitable for operating and applying to surgical anatomy and imaging analysis. The rabbit model of rhino-sinus can be applied to simulate human rhino-sinusitis.