Matrix-assisted autologous chondrocyte transplantation may offer long-lasting results
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Arthroscopic matrix-assisted autologous chondrocyte transplantation for articular cartilage defects of the knee may offer positive, long-lasting results with limited failures or reinterventions, according to published results.
Researchers from the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute in Bologna, Italy, analyzed 113 patients (115 knees) who were diagnosed with chondral and osteochondral lesions of the femoral condyles and trochlea. All patients were treated with hyaluronic acid-based matrix-assisted autologous chondrocyte transplantation (MACT) and evaluated before surgery and at 2-, 5-, 10- and 15-year follow-up.
Outcome measures included the IKDC score, the EuroQol VAS (EQ-VAS) and the Tegner activity scale, according to the study.
Researchers noted a “statistically significant improvement” in all scores at all follow-ups. Mean IKDC score improved from 39.9 to 77.3 at 2-year follow-up and remained steady at 78.6, 77.1 and 76.9 at 5-, 10- and 15-year follow-up, respectively. EQ-VAS and Tegner scores also improved from preoperative measures to final follow-up.
Among the cohort, the failure rate was 15%, which increased to 21.7% when researchers considered clinical failures. Researchers also documented worse outcomes for patients who were older, female, affected by degenerative lesions, had a longer duration of symptoms and/or underwent previous surgery.
Still, researchers noted arthroscopic hyaluronic acid-based MACT provided a “significant and stable improvement of the clinical outcome” in patients with knee chondral or osteochondral defects.
Collapse
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts