Autologous adult live cultured chondrocytes implantation show good mid-term efficacy in cartilage defects of the knee joint

Written By : Dr Supreeth D R |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2022-08-21T19:45:30+05:30 | Updated On 21 Aug 2022 7:45 PM IST

Research shows autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) is a promising treatment for articular cartilage lesions. In this study, Shirish Pathak et al assessed mid-term efficacy and safety of gel-based ACI or autologous adult live cultured chondrocytes implantation in patients with cartilage defects of the knee joint. The study was published in "International Orthopaedics" journal.

In this prospective, open-label study, patients (19–38 years) with focal, international cartilage repair society grade III or IV articular cartilage defects of the knee joint were enrolled at four centres across India.

Punch biopsy was conducted to harvest cartilage, from which chondrocytes were isolated and cultured, and the characterised chondrocytes were implanted into the cartilage defect. Key efficacy outcomes were assessed by quantitative changes in international knee documentation committee (IKDC), visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, and qualitative changes in magnetic resonance imaging at six months and four years from baseline.

• Of the14 patients enrolled in the study, all patients completed the six month follow-up and 11 completed the four year follow-up.

• The IKDC score improved significantly from 32.84±9.25 at baseline to 67.49±13.03 at six months (mean difference [MD] 34.66±13.00, p < 0.0001) and to 60.18±10.33 at four years (MD 28.21±15.14, p=0.0001).

• The VAS score reduced from 72.00±14.40 at baseline to 16.64±17.03 at six months (MD 55.36±24.50, p< 0.0001) and further to 12.72±9.05 at four years (MD 62.09±10.66, p< 0.0001).

• All patients showed improvement on MRI of the knee joint.

• No adverse events were reported.

The authors concluded that - this study shows that gel-based ACI alleviates pain and improves functional activity with no side-effects in patients with articular cartilage defects of the knee. Overall, CARTIGROW® showed good mid-term efficacy; however, substantiating these results in real clinical setting would be of future interest.

MBBS, Dip. Ortho, DNB ortho, MNAMS

Dr Supreeth D R (MBBS, Dip. Ortho, DNB ortho, MNAMS) is a practicing orthopedician with interest in medical research and publishing articles. He completed MBBS from mysore medical college, dip ortho from Trivandrum medical college and sec. DNB from Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru. He has expirence of 7years in the field of orthopedics. He has presented scientific papers & posters in various state, national and international conferences. His interest in writing articles lead the way to join medical dialogues. He can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751