Traumatic joint defects and
degenerative joint diseases such as osteoarthritis lead
to severe cartilage lesions that may be accompanied by
pain. Chondral or osteochondral lesions of the articular
cartilage are found in about 60% of the patients. Up to
20% of patients show focal chondral or osteochondral defects.
Since articular cartilage has a low intrinsic regenerative
capacity and cartilage lesions may potentially lead to
severe osteoarthritis, a variety of reparative techniques
have evolved. That aim covering of the cartilage defect,
formation of cartilaginous repair tissue and resurfacing
of the articular cartilage.
The cell-free cartilage implant (chondrotissue®)
was designed for covering of the cartilage defect after
microfracture in order to protect the underlying tissue
and induce haemostasisthat purpose. Made of hyaluronan
and polyglycolic acid (PGA) scaffold. The scaffold must
be combined with autologous serum during surgery to restore
elastic properties. The scaffold (chondrotissue®)
is than implanted by arthroscopic technique, one-step
procedure, after debridement and microfracture. The migration
and differentiation potential of mesenchymal progenitors
(cells) have great response to cartilage regeneration.
