Etiology of Cartilage Lesions Does Not Affect Clinical Outcomes of Patellofemoral Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation

• Published in: Cartilage Vol. 13; no. 1_suppl; pp. 1298S - 1305S
• Main Authors: Mestriner, Alexandre Barbieri, Ackermann, Jakob, Merkely, Gergo, Galvão, Pedro Henrique Schmidt Alves Ferreira, Ambra, Luiz Felipe Morlin, Gomoll, Andreas H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.2021
• Subjects: Adult; Cartilage Diseases - surgery; Cartilage, Articular - surgery; Cartilage, Articular - transplantation; Chondrocytes - transplantation; Clinical Research papers; Female; Humans; Male; Patellofemoral Joint - surgery; Retrospective Studies; Transplantation, Autologous; cartilage repair; patellofemoral joint; autologous chondrocyte implantation
• ISSN: 1947-6035; 1947-6043
• DOI: 10.1177/19476035211030991

Objective To determine the relationship between cartilage lesion etiology and clinical outcomes after second-generation autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) in the patellofemoral joint (PFJ) with a minimum of 2 years’ follow-up. Methods A retrospective review of all patients that underwent ACI in the PFJ by a single surgeon was performed. Seventy-two patients with a mean follow-up of 4.2 ± 2.0 years were enrolled in this study and were stratified into 3 groups based on the etiology of PFJ cartilage lesions: patellar dislocation (group 1; n = 23); nontraumatic lesions, including chondromalacia, osteochondritis dissecans, and degenerative defects (group 2; n = 28); and other posttraumatic lesions besides patellar dislocations (group 3; n = 21). Patient’s mean age was 29.6 ± 8.7 years. Patients in group 1 were significantly younger (25.4 ± 7.9 years) than group 2 (31.7 ± 9.6 years; P = 0.025) and group 3 (31.5 ± 6.6 years; P = 0.05). Body mass index averaged 26.2 ± 4.3 kg/m2, with a significant difference between group 1 (24.4 ± 3.2 kg/m2) and group 3 (28.7 ± 4.5 kg/m2; P = 0.005). A clinical comparison was established between groups based on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and failure rates. Results Neither pre- nor postoperative PROMs differed between groups (P > 0.05). No difference was seen in survivorship between groups (95.7% vs. 82.2% vs. 90.5%, P > 0.05). Conclusion Cartilage lesion etiology did not influence clinical outcome in this retrospective study after second generation ACI in the PFJ. Level of Evidence Level III, retrospective comparative study.