PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of articular cartilage regeneration after arthroscopic subchondral drilling followed by postoperative intraarticular injections of autologous peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs) in combination with hyaluronic acid (HA).
METHODS: Five patients underwent second-look arthroscopy with chondral core biopsy. These 5 patients are part of a larger pilot study in which 180 patients with International Cartilage Repair Society grade III and IV lesions of the knee joint underwent arthroscopic subchondral drilling followed by postoperative intra-articular injections. Continuous passive motion was used on the operated knee 2 hours per day for 4 weeks. Partial weight bearing was observed for the first 6 to 8 weeks. Autologous PBPCs were harvested 1 week after surgery. One week after surgery, 8 mL of the harvested PBPCs in combination with 2 mL of HA was injected intra-articularly into the operated knee. The remaining PBPCs were divided into vials and cryopreserved. A total of 5 weekly intra-articular injections were given.
RESULTS: Second-look arthroscopy confirmed articular cartilage regeneration, and histologic sections showed features of hyaline cartilage. Apart from the minimal discomfort of PBPC harvesting and localized pain associated with the intra-articular injections, there were no other notable adverse reactions.
CONCLUSIONS: Articular hyaline cartilage regeneration is possible with arthroscopic subchondral drilling followed by postoperative intraarticular injections of autologous PBPCs in combination with HA.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic case series.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare histologic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation of articular cartilage regeneration in patients with chondral lesions treated by arthroscopic subchondral drilling followed by postoperative intra-articular injections of hyaluronic acid (HA) with and without peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC).
METHODS: Fifty patients aged 18 to 50 years with International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) grade 3 and 4 lesions of the knee joint underwent arthroscopic subchondral drilling; 25 patients each were randomized to the control (HA) and the intervention (PBSC + HA) groups. Both groups received 5 weekly injections commencing 1 week after surgery. Three additional injections of either HA or PBSC + HA were given at weekly intervals 6 months after surgery. Subjective IKDC scores and MRI scans were obtained preoperatively and postoperatively at serial visits. We performed second-look arthroscopy and biopsy at 18 months on 16 patients in each group. We graded biopsy specimens using 14 components of the International Cartilage Repair Society Visual Assessment Scale II (ICRS II) and a total score was obtained. MRI scans at 18 months were assessed with a morphologic scoring system.
RESULTS: The total ICRS II histologic scores for the control group averaged 957 and they averaged 1,066 for the intervention group (P = .022). On evaluation of the MRI morphologic scores, the control group averaged 8.5 and the intervention group averaged 9.9 (P = .013). The mean 24-month IKDC scores for the control and intervention groups were 71.1 and 74.8, respectively (P = .844). One patient was lost to follow-up. There were no notable adverse events.
CONCLUSIONS: After arthroscopic subchondral drilling into grade 3 and 4 chondral lesions, postoperative intra-articular injections of autologous PBSC in combination with HA resulted in an improvement of the quality of articular cartilage repair over the same treatment without PBSC, as shown by histologic and MRI evaluation.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, randomized controlled trial (RCT).
PURPOSE: To histologically evaluate the quality of articular cartilage regeneration from the medial compartment after arthroscopic subchondral drilling followed by postoperative intra-articular injections of autologous peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) and hyaluronic acid with concomitant medial open-wedge high tibial osteotomy (HTO) in patients with varus deformity of the knee joint.
METHODS: Eight patients with varus deformity of the knee joint underwent arthroscopic subchondral drilling of International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) grade 4 bone-on-bone lesions of the medial compartment with concomitant HTO. These patients were part of a larger pilot study in which 18 patients underwent the same procedure. PBSCs were harvested and cryopreserved preoperatively. At 1 week after surgery, 8 mL of PBSCs was mixed with 2 mL of hyaluronic acid and injected intra-articularly into the knee joint; this was repeated once a week for 5 consecutive weeks. Three additional intra-articular injections were administered weekly at intervals of 6, 12, and 18 months postoperatively. Informed consent was obtained at the time of hardware removal for opportunistic second-look arthroscopy and chondral biopsy. Biopsy specimens were stained with H&E, safranin O, and immunohistochemical staining for type I and II collagen. Specimens were graded using the 14 components of the ICRS Visual Assessment Scale II, and a total score was obtained.
RESULTS: Second-look arthroscopy showed satisfactory healing of the regenerated cartilage. Histologic analysis showed significant amounts of proteoglycan and type II collagen. The total ICRS Visual Assessment Scale II histologic scores comparing the regenerated articular cartilage (mean, 1,274) with normal articular cartilage (mean, 1,340) indicated that the repair cartilage score approached 95% of the normal articular cartilage score. There were no infections, delayed unions, or nonunions.
CONCLUSIONS: Chondrogenesis with stem cells in combination with medial open-wedge HTO for varus deformity correction of the knee joint regenerates cartilage that closely resembles the native articular cartilage.
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level IV, therapeutic case series.
PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to determine whether postoperative intra-articular injections of autologous marrow aspirate (MA) and hyaluronic acid (HA) after subchondral drilling resulted in better cartilage repair as assessed histologically by Gill scoring.
METHODS: In a goat model we created a 4-mm full-thickness articular cartilage defect in the stifle joint (equivalent to 1.6 cm in the human knee) and conducted subchondral drilling. The animals were divided into 3 groups: group A (control), no injections; group B (HA), weekly injection of 1 mL of sodium hyaluronate for 3 weeks; and group C (HA + MA), similar to group B but with 2 mL of autologous MA in addition to HA. MA was obtained by bone marrow aspiration, centrifuged, and divided into aliquots for cryopreservation. Fifteen animals were equally divided between the groups and sacrificed 24 weeks after surgery, when the joint was harvested, examined macroscopically and histologically.
RESULTS: Of the 15 animals, 2 from group A had died of non-surgery-related complications and 1 from group C was excluded because of a joint infection. In group A the repair constituted mainly scar tissue, whereas in group B there was less scar tissue, with small amounts of proteoglycan and type II collagen at the osteochondral junction. In contrast, repair cartilage from group C animals showed almost complete coverage of the defect with evidence of hyaline cartilage regeneration. Histology assessed by Gill scoring was significantly better in group C with 1-way analysis of variance yielding an F statistic of 10.611 with a P value of .004, which was highly significant.
CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative intra-articular injections of autologous MA in combination with HA after subchondral drilling resulted in better cartilage repair as assessed histologically by Gill scoring in a goat model.
CLINICAL RELEVANCE: After arthroscopic subchondral drilling, this novel technique may result in better articular cartilage regeneration.