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At the recent meeting of the Fifth International Symposium of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in Toronto, Canada, Edward Szachowicz, MD, and coworkers, St Paul, Minn, presented an experimental study evaluating the influence of polylactic acid on wound healing, and its potential for stimulating growth of hyaline cartilage. A rabbit model was used. A 1 × 1-cm full-thickness piece of cartilage was excised from each ear. On one ear, a 1 × 1-cm sheet of polylactic acid was placed into the defect subperichondrially. In the opposite, or control ear, the perichondrium was laid back down over the defect. No attempt was made to fill the defect in the control ear. Histologic analysis at 2 weeks and at 1, 3, and 6 months revealed the following: (1) Cartilage defects filled with polylactic acid show early fibrous tissue infiltration and, as early as 1 month, cartilage regeneration was seen