Mayo Clinic surgeons use the latest surgical and nonsurgical treatment options to restore articular cartilage in the knee. Mayo Clinic's Sports Medicine Research team investigates cutting-edge techniques by participating in several multicenter clinical trials.
Faculty members collaborating on research related to knee cartilage and regenerative medicine include:
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Pick and choose comparisons; ethical selections when designing regenerative medicine studies, a serious responsibility that greatly influences outcome.
De Windt TS, Niemansburg SL, Vonk LA, van Delden JM, Roes KCB, Dhert WJA, Saris DBF, Bredenoord AL. Ethics in musculoskeletal regenerative medicine; guidance in choosing the appropriate comparator in clinical trials. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. 2019;27:34.
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An inventive and effective way to fix loose cartilage and bone fragments in the knee.
Melugin JP, Desai VS, Levy BA, Tanaka Y, Horibe S, Nakamura N, Krych AJ. Osteochondritis dissecans of the knee: short-term outcomes of a hybrid technique to restore a partially salvageable progeny fragment. Cartilage. Aug. 24, 2018.
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A loose piece of cartilage and bone is not a simple disease: Treatment results and making the best of osteochondritis dissecans.
Hevesi M, Sanders TL, Pareek A, Milbrandt TA, Levy BA, Stuart MJ, Saris DBF, Krych AJ. Osteochondritis dissecans in the knee of skeletally immature patients: Rates of persistent pain, osteoarthritis, and arthroplasty at mean 14-years' follow-up. Cartilage. July 12, 2018.
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Leg alignment, ligament stability and a good meniscus are important for good outcome, taking care of the knee, the patient and understanding biology.
Krych AJ, Hevesi M, Desai VS, Camp CL, Stuart MJ, Saris DBF. Learning from failure in cartilage repair surgery: An analysis of the mode of failure of primary procedures in consecutive cases at a tertiary referral center. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. May 17, 2018.
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Knee cartilage damage can be diagnosed earlier using advanced imaging.
Brinkhof S, Nizak R, Khlebnikov V, Prompers JJ, Klomp DWJ, Saris DBF. Detection of early cartilage damage: Feasibility and potential of gagCEST imaging at 7T. European Radiology. 2018:28;2874.
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Extracellular vesicles contain signals that can help cartilage repair, a step-by-step understanding of regenerative medicine.
Vonk LA, van Dooremalen SFJ, Liv N, Klumperman J, Coffer PJ, Saris DBF, Lorenowicz MJ. Mesenchymal stromal/stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles promote human cartilage regeneration in vitro. Theranostics. 2018:8;906.
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Proper leg alignment is important in knee repair, and biomaterials-based improvement is beneficial to patients.
Hevesi M, Macalena JA, Wu IT, Camp CL, Levy BA, Arendt EA, Stuart MJ, Krych AJ. High tibial osteotomy with modern PEEK implants is safe and leads to lower hardware removal rates when compared to conventional metal fixation: A multi-center comparison study. Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy. 2019:27;1280.
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Good outcomes for properly fixed bone and cartilage fragments in the knee are influenced by age, timing and technique.
Wu IT, Custers RJH, Desai VS, Pareek A, Stuart MJ, Saris DBF, Krych AJ. Internal fixation of unstable osteochondritis dissecans: Do open growth plates improve healing rate? The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2018:46;2394.
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Cartilage repair using cell technology is FDA approved and available for patients.
Brittberg M, Recker D, Ilgenfritz J, Saris DBF, SUMMIT Extension Study Group. Matrix-applied characterized autologous cultured chondrocytes versus microfracture: Five-year follow-up of a prospective randomized trial. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2018:46;1343.
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A prepared allograft disc may be an option for treating full-thickness cartilage defects of the patella.
Woodmass JM, Melugin HP, Wu IT, Saris DBF, Stuart MJ, Krych AJ. Viable osteochondral allograft for the treatment of a full-thickness cartilage defect of the patella. Arthroscopy Techniques. 2017;6:e1661.
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Thirty percent of people with osteochondritis (loose cartilage and bone) will get arthritis and many will need knee replacement.
Sanders TL, Pareek A, Johnson NR, Carey JL, Maak TG, Stuart MJ, Krych AJ. Nonoperative management of osteochondritis dissecans of the knee: Progression to osteoarthritis and arthroplasty at mean 13-year follow-up. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. July 24, 2017.
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When cartilage is lost, so goes the knee: Fixing loose bodies is better than removing them.
Sanders TL, Pareek A, Obey MR, Johnson NR, Carey JL, Stuart MJ, Krych AJ. High rate of osteoarthritis after osteochondritis dissecans fragment excision compared with surgical restoration at a mean 16-year follow-up. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2017;45:1799.
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Innovative biomaterials help make grafts in ACL (ligament) reconstruction stronger and patient rehab faster.
Crispim JF, Fu SC, Lee YW, Fernandes HAM, Jonkheijm P, Yung PSH, Saris DBF. Bioactive tape with BMP-2 binding peptides captures endogenous growth factors and accelerates healing after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 2018;46:2905.