“Living Bandage” of Stem Cells for Knee Injury
Meniscus tears are the bane of sport players from school field games to the big leagues. Moreover, these injuries to knee cartilage predispose sufferers to osteoarthritis. To address this, scientists at the Universities of Liverpool and Bristol have developed “bandages” made of bone marrow stem cells which have been effectively implanted. Results: “. . . human-MSC/collagen-scaffold implant was placed into the meniscal tear prior to repair with vertical mattress sutures and the patients were followed for 2 years. Five patients were treated and there was significant clinical improvement on repeated measures analysis. Three were asymptomatic at 24 months with no magnetic resonance imaging evidence of recurrent tear and clinical improvement in knee function scores. Two required subsequent meniscectomy due to retear or nonhealing of the meniscal tear at approximately 15 months after implantation. No other adverse events occurred.” MORE
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