O3071 5 TO 6-YEAR FOLLOW UP RESULTS OF COLLAGEN MENISCUS IMPLANTS

Abstract

Aims:We conducted 5 to 6-year follow up on 8 patients who had reconstruction of one injured medial meniscus with a collagen meniscus implant (CMI). We hypothesized that these patients would have signiþcant clinical improvement over preoperative status.Methods: Eight patients underwent CMI placement to reconstruct the medial meniscus of one knee. Patients were followed for 2 years clinically, with imaging, relook arthroscopy, and biopsy then all patients returned 5.8 years (5.5 to 6.3 years) after CMI placement. Patients underwent clinical, radiographic, MRI, and arthroscopic examinations. Pain, Lysholm, Tegner and self-assessment scores were compared to scores at CMI surgery. Results: Lysholm scores improved signiþcantly from 75 at CMI surgery to 88 at þnal follow up, and Tegner activity scores improved signiþcantly from 3 to 6. Self-assessment improved signiþcantly from 2.4 to 1.9. Pain scores improved from 23 to 11. Imaging studies conþrmed no further chondral surface degeneration. The maturing new tissue became indistinguishable from native meniscus tissue. One-year relook arthroscopy revealed 77% defect þlling with new meniscus-like tissue, and 5 to 6-year relooks showed 69% defect þlling. The new tissue was stable and mostly unchanged since the initial relook. Conclusions: The meniscus-like tissue that developed after placement of the CMI has survived more than þve years and functioned similar to native meniscus to provide signiþcantly improved clinical outcomes compared to preoperative status in this study group.