Surgeons in Switzerland have successfully used nasal cartilage to repair damaged knees, it was announced today.
Ten patients were treated with the procedure two years ago – and most of them have enjoyed improvements in their knees and quality of life, doctors reported.
The procedure involved taking cartilage cells from the nasal septum, growing it in the laboratory and creating engineered cartilage for the operation.
Details of the apparent success of the phase 1 study were reported in The Lancet today.
The researchers say the patients developed repair tissue similar in composition to native cartilage.
One of the patients suffered further sports injuries and their progress could not be assessed.
The other nine reported "substantial" improvements in the use of their knees and the level of pain without suffering adverse events.
The doctors say they turned to the nose as a source of cartilage because the cells in the nasal septum have a unique capacity to grow and form new cartilage tissue.
Professor Ivan Martin, of the University Hospital Basel, Switzerland, who led the project, said: “Our findings confirm the safety and feasibility of cartilage grafts engineered from nasal cells to repair damaged knee cartilage.
"But use of this procedure in everyday clinical practice is still a long way off as it requires rigorous assessment of efficacy in larger groups of patients and the development of manufacturing strategies to ensure cost effectiveness.
"Moreover, in order to extend the potential use of this technique to older people or those with degenerative cartilage pathologies like osteoarthritis, a lot more fundamental and pre-clinical research work needs to be done.”
Lancet 21 October 2016 [abstract]
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