Early results show hydrogel scaffold aided knee cartilage regrowth

Fifteen patients in a pilot clinical trial achieved good results after receiving hydrogel scaffolding during microfracture surgery to treat damaged knee cartilage, according to results published in Science Translational Medicine.

“Our pilot study indicates that the new implant works as well in patients as it does in the lab, so we hope it will become a routine part of care and improve healing,” Jennifer Elisseeff, PhD, director of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Translational Tissue Engineering Center, stated in a press release.

Researchers combined the polyethylene glycol diacrylate hydrogel material with a chondroitin sulfate adhesive and placed it in focal cartilage defects on the medial femoral condyle in 15 patients. Three other patients were treated with microfracture alone, which is the standard of care for cartilage repair, according to the press release.

Elisseeff and colleagues reported no adverse events at 6 months after treatment. MRI showed that in patients treated with the hydrogel and adhesive construct 86% of cartilage defects showed tissue fill compared to 64% of defects in the microfracture group. The hydrogel group also experienced greater pain relief at the same follow-up time point vs. controls, according to the abstract.

Preclinical testing was done in a caprine model.

Reference:

Elisseeff J. SciTransl Med. 2013;doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.3004838.

Disclosure: The authors received grant funding from The Arthritis Foundation, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and the National Institutes of Health to conduct this trial.