Two-to 9-year outcome after autologous chondrocyte transplantation of the knee

Abstract

In 1987, autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) was proposed to treat full thickness large chondral lesions in the knee. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term outcomes of the technique. One hundred and one patients were evaluated in this retrospective assessment of clinical outcome measures, arthroscopically derived information and histologic data. Of the 101 patients included in the study, 94 were evaluated at a follow up duration between 2 and 9 years. Clinical outcome measures were found to be good to excellent in individual groups as follows: multiple chondral defects, isolated defects of the femoral condyle, patella defect, osteochondritis dissecans, and femoral condyle defects undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Observations during arthroscopy of 53 patients suggested the success of the procedure in terms of adherence to the underlying bone, fi ll of the repair tissue, integration of the repair tissue to the surrounding tissue, and similar material hardness between the repair tissue and the surrounding cartilage.