CLINICAL RESULTS IN PATELLOFEMORAL FULL THICKNESS CHONDRAL DEFECTS TREATED WITH HYALOGRAFT®-C: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY AT 2-YEARS FOLLOW-UP

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Hyalograft®-C, in a group of patients with full thickness patellofemoral defects.

Method: 32 patients treated with Hyalograft®-C for patellofemoral chondral lesions were evaluated. Average age was 30.5 yrs. with a mean follow-up period of 24 months. The defect area was 4.7 cm2 and the lesions were due to trauma (12 patients), malalignment (4) and osteochondritis dissecans (2). Eight patients had previous knee arthroscopy, 2 had patellar re-alignment, and 1 patient had lateral retinacular release. Subjective evaluation, ICRS-IKDC 2000 scores were used for final evaluation. Patients underwent MRI at 12 months, two patients had 2nd-look arthroscopy and biopsy. Student- T Test was used for statistical analysis.

Results: Significant improvement (p< 0.0001) with VAS scale and subjective evaluation using the ICRS scale was demonstrated. A statistically significant improvement was reported with IKDC scoring systems. MRI demonstrated almost normal cartilage in 70% of the cases with positive correlation to clinical outcomes. 2nd-look arthroscopies demonstrated good integration with the surrounding cartilage and biopsies were characterized as hyaline-like cartilage.

Conclusions: Hyalograft C is a viable option for treatment of patellofemoral cartilage lesions. Additional follow-up assessments will confirm the long-term durability of these results.