Cartilage Repair Maintains Improvement

In the rating scale used, 2 was poor and 10 was excellent. Both clinician and patient evaluations increased from averages of 3 (clinician) and 3 (patient) before treatment to 7.2 (clinician) and 6.8 (patient) at 60 months after treatment.

On a scale where zero represents symptoms and 10 indicates no symptoms, patients reported that 60 months after surgery, pain improved by an average of 3.2 points, swelling improved by 3.3 points, partial giving way of the knee improved by 2.8 points, and full giving way of the knee improved by 2.7 points. Knee examinations showed major decreases in joint line pain and effusion, and increases in range of motion. The percentage of knees with joint line pain decreased from 81% before surgery to 30% at 60 months.

Carticel is the product of Genzyme Biosurgery (Cambridge, MA, USA). The company is focused on developing biotechnology products used to improve or replace surgery.



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