AUTOLOGOUS CHONDROCYTE TRANSPLANTATION-SERIES OF 3 CASES

Riccardo Gomes Gobbi; Marco Kawamura Demange; Ronald Bispo Barreto; José Ricardo Pécora; Múrcia Uchõa de Rezende; Tarcisio E P Barros Filho; Christiane Bertachini Lombello

doi:10.1016/S2255-4971(15)30396-7

AUTOLOGOUS CHONDROCYTE TRANSPLANTATION-SERIES OF 3 CASES

Rev Bras Ortop. 2015 Nov 17;45(4):449-55. doi: 10.1016/S2255-4971(15)30396-7. eCollection 2010 Jul-Aug.

Authors

Riccardo Gomes Gobbi¹, Marco Kawamura Demange¹, Ronald Bispo Barreto², José Ricardo Pécora³, Múrcia Uchõa de Rezende⁴, Tarcisio E P Barros Filho⁵, Christiane Bertachini Lombello⁶

Affiliations

¹ Attending Physician in the Knee Group, Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Hospital das Clínicas, University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine.
² MSc Student in the Postgraduate Program on Orthopedics and Traumatology, University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine.
³ Attending Physician and Head of the Knee Group, Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Hospital das Clínicas, University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine.
⁴ Attending Physician and Head of the Osteometabolic Diseases Group, Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Hospital das Clínicas, University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine.
⁵ Titular Professor of the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo.
⁶ Biologist and Adjunct Professor in the Federal University of ABC, Sao Paulo.

Abstract

Hyaline cartilage covers joint surfaces and plays an important role in reducing friction and mechanical loading on synovial joints such as the knee. This tissue is not supplied with blood vessels, nerves or lymphatic circulation, which may be one of the reasons why joint cartilage has such poor capacity for healing. Chondral lesions that reach the subchondral bone (osteochondral lesions) do not heal and may progress to arthrosis with the passage of time. In young patients, treatment of chondral defects of the knee is still a challenge, especially in lesions larger than 4 cm. One option for treating these patients is autologous chondrocyte transplantation/implantation. Because this treatment does not violate the subchondral bone and repairs the defect with tissue similar to hyaline cartilage, it has the theoretical advantage of being more biological, and mechanically superior, compared with other techniques. In this paper, we describe our experience with autologous chondrocyte transplantation/implantation at the Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Hospital das Clínicas, University of Sâo Paulo, through a report on three cases.

Keywords: Chondrocyte; Knee; Transplantation, autologous.

Publication types

Case Reports