title: Is there a role for adult non-cultivated bone marrow stem cells in ACL reconstruction?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) if adult non-cultivated bone marrow stem cells accelerate tendon-to-bone healing in the femoral tunnel, after hamstring anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-three patients underwent ACL reconstruction and were prospectively randomized into two groups: 20 patients in the experimental group (group A) with adult non-cultivated bone marrow stem cells and 23 patients in the control group (group B) without adult non-cultivated bone marrow stem cells. All patients underwent MRI of the knee at three months after surgery to evaluate the signal-to-noise ratio of the interzone.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no difference in the signal-to-noise ratio of the interzone on MRI between the experimental and the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adult non-cultivated bone marrow stem cells do not seem to accelerate graft-to-bone healing in ACL reconstruction. The clinical relevance of this finding is that adult non-cultivated bone marrow stem cells apparently have a limited role in ACL reconstruction.
authors.affiliation: Orthopedics Department, Hospital Militar D. Pedro V, Avenida da Boavista, 4050-113, Porto, Portugal, alcindocsilva@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alcindo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sampaio
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Elisabete
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pinto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016118:Anterior Cruciate Ligament / Q000601:surgery; D000070598:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries; D059549:Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction; D001182:Arthroscopy / Q000379:methods; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D013710:Tendons / Q000637:transplantation*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult