Correlation between early radiological appearance and mid-term functional outcomes in patients undergoing treatment for knee articular cartilage lesions by autologous chondrocyte implantation surgeries

Abstract

Knee pain is a highly prevalent complaint in the general population. Some of these patients have articular cartilage damage. Symptomatic deep cartilage lesions often require surgical treatment. Cartilage lesions in areas that affect more than four square centimeters may be treated by autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) surgery. Although several previous studies have already identified good outcomes with this treatment method, this technique is not yet performed in Brazil. ACI procedures are widely performed in Europe and in the United States. [2, 3] There is limited data on the correlation between early magnetic resonance imaging findings and mid-term or long-term postoperative clinical outcomes. In this context, we intend to perform correlation analyses of the initial magnetic resonance imaging appearance of the knee after autologous chondrocyte implantation and the mid-term clinical and functional patient outcomes. We intend to establish radiological signs that could allow us to estimate the ACI procedure prognosis over the years.This will provide relevant data to drive changes in clinical management, on patient's orientations, as a guidance for allowance of sports activities and even early indication of further surgical interventions. We outlined the study with the evaluation of 100 patients comparing MRI findings performed at six months postoperatively with the functional assessment of 3 to 5 years postoperatively in patients undergoing autologous chondrocytes implantation surgeries to treat knee cartilage lesions. The objectives of the study are to verify and establish possible associations between observable signs on MRI performed at the initial postoperative period (six months after surgery) with the mid-term (three to five years) functional outcomes after autologous chondrocyte implantation surgeries. (AU)