Author/Editor     Barlič, Ariana; Maličev, Elvira
Title     Zdravljenje poškodovanega sklepnega hrustanca
Translated title     Injured articular cartilage repair
Type     članek
Source     Zdrav Vestn
Vol. and No.     Letnik 77, št. 2
Publication year     2008
Volume     str. 141-4
Language     slo
Abstract     Articular cartilage covers the articulating ends of the bones in synovial joints. During movements it enables the joints to operate at high loads while keeping contact stresses low, and create a low ,friction environment for the bones to move on each other. Among the synovial joints, a knee is the one that is most frequently injured. Limited cartilage lesions are frequently a main cause for pain and disturbances in knee motion. Due to inability of articular cartilage to initiate any clinically appreciable healing response, lesions can progress to untimely arthrosis. There are various operative methods for cartilage treatment However, majority of them only treat symptoms temporarily. Namely, the tissue usually degenerates to fibrocartilage and symptoms reappear. More promising are those methods of treatment which incorporate a replacement of missing cartilage with a proper substitute. These methods include a stimulation of the bone marrow to form a repair tissue, osteochondral transplantation and autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI). ACI is a method of treatment that involves an implementation of the patient's own cultured cartilage cells in the injured area. Surveys show that the most ,frequently used surgical methods are mosaicplasty and bone marrow stimulation with microfracturing. The efficacy of the autologous chondrocyte implantation method should be superior to microfracturing on a long run. Especially when (re)generation of the hyaline cartilage instead of fibrous tissue (fibrocartilage) is concerned. However, it has not been scientifically proved yet.
Descriptors     CARTILAGE, ARTICULAR
KNEE INJURIES
CARTILAGE
CELLS, CULTURED