Affiliations: [a] Department for Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany | [b] Department for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany | [c] Institute for Pathology, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany | [d] Cologne Center for Musculoskeletal Biomechanics, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany | [e] Department for Hand Surgery, Vulpius Clinic, Bad Rappenau, Germany
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: David Grevenstein, Department for Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital of Cologne, Joseph-Stelzmann Straße 24, 50931 Cologne, Germany. Tel.: +49 221 478 4648; E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Lesions of articular cartilage represent a crucial risk factor for the early development of osteoarthritis. Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) is a well-established procedure in therapy of those lesions in the knee. The aim of the presented study is to detect differences in short-term radiological outcome depending on defect localization (femoral condyle vs. retropatellar) after spheroid-based ACI. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to demonstrate that radiological outcome after spheroid-based ACI in the knee is independent of defect localization. METHODS: MRI-scans after retropatellar ACI and ACI of the medial/lateral femoral condyle, with a preoperative Outerbridge grade of III or IV were evaluated regarding MOCART 2.0. RESULTS: The mean defect-size was 5.0 ± 1.8 cm2, with a minimum size of 2 cm2 and a maximum size of 9 cm2. Scans were performed 7.7 months (± 3.1 months) postoperatively. The mean MOCART 2.0 score was 78.5 ± 15.6. No statistically significant influence neither of the localization (p= 0.159), the gender (p= 0.124) nor defect size (< 5 cm2 vs. ⩾ 5 cm2; p= 0.201) could be observed. CONCLUSIONS: The presented data demonstrate good to excellent radiological short-term results after spheroid-based ACI. Data indicates, that at least radiological results are independent of gender, defect-size and defect-localization.
