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J Knee Surg 2019; 32(02): 127-133
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1676378
Special Focus Section
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Knee Cell-Based Cartilage Restoration

Adam M. Pickett
1   Department of Orthopedics, John A. Feagin Sports Medicine Fellowship, United States Military Academy, Keller Army Community Hospital, West Point, New York
,
Dana T. Hensley Jr.
1   Department of Orthopedics, John A. Feagin Sports Medicine Fellowship, United States Military Academy, Keller Army Community Hospital, West Point, New York
› Author Affiliations
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Publication History

03 October 2018

28 October 2018

Publication Date:
10 January 2019 (online)

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Abstract

As our patients become more physically active at all ages, the incidence of injuries to articular cartilage is increasing causing significant pain and disability. The intrinsic healing response of articular cartilage is poor because of its limited vascular supply and capacity for chondrocyte division. Nonsurgical management for the focal cartilage lesion is successful in the majority of patients. Those patients who fail conservative management may be candidates for a cartilage reparative or reconstructive procedure. The type of treatment available depends on a multitude of lesion-specific and patient-specific variables. First-line therapies for isolated cartilage lesions have demonstrated good clinical results in the correct patient, but typically repair cartilage with fibrocartilage, which has inferior stiffness, inferior resilience, and poorer wear characteristics. Advances in cell-based cartilage restoration have provided the surgeon a means to address focal cartilage lesions utilizing mesenchymal stem cells, chondrocytes, and biomimetic scaffolds to restore hyaline cartilage.

Keywords

cartilage - chondrocyte - matrix - scaffold - articulated

Note

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.