Cartilage Repair Maintains Improvement

Five years after surgery, 91% of patients treated with autologous cultured chondrocytes (Carticel) to repair damaged cartilage on the thigh-bone part of the knee maintained improvement.

The report included data collected on 36 eligible patients on four key measures: clinician and patient evaluations of overall knee condition, patient reports of symptoms, and knee examination results. In the rating scale used, 2 was poor and 10 was excellent. Both clinician and patient evaluations increased from averages of 3 (clinician) and 3 (patient) before treatment to 7.2 (clinician) and 6.8 (patient) at 60 months after treatment.

On a scale where zero represents symptoms and 10 indicates no symptoms, patients reported that 60 months after surgery, pain improved by an average of 3.2 points, swelling improved by 3.3 points, partial giving way of the knee improved by 2.8 points, and full giving way of the knee improved by 2.7 points. Knee examinations showed major decreases in joint line pain and effusion, and increases in range of motion. The percentage of knees with joint line pain decreased from 81% before surgery to 30% at 60 months.

Carticel is the product of Genzyme Biosurgery (Cambridge, MA, USA). The company is focused on developing biotechnology products used to improve or replace surgery.



Related Links:
Genzyme Biosurgery