Arthritis Research & Therapy

Treatment of posttraumatic and focal osteoarthritic cartilage defects of the knee with autologous polymer-based three-dimensional chondrocyte grafts: 2-year clinical results

Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) is a clinical effective procedure for the regeneration of articular cartilage defects. BioSeed(R)-C is a second generation ACI tissue engineering cartilage graft that is based on autologous chondrocytes embedded in a three-dimensional bioresorbable two component gel-polymer-scaffold. In the present prospective study, we have evaluated the short-to-mid-term efficacy of BioSeed(R)-C for the arthrotomic and arthroscopic treatment of posttraumatic and degenerative cartilage defects in a group of patients suffering from chronic posttraumatic and/or degenerative cartilage lesions of the knee. Clinical outcome was assessed in 40 patients with a two-year clinical follow-up before and at 3, 6, 12 and 24 months after implantation using the modified Cincinnati Score, the Lysholm Score, the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), and the current health assessment form (SF-36) of the International Knee Documentation Committee as well as histological analysis of second-look biopsies. Significant improvement (p <>