title: Magnetic resonance evaluation of TruFit® plugs for the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the knee shows the poor characteristics of the repair tissue.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Treatment of osteochondral lesions of the knee with synthetic scaffolds seems to offer a good surgical option preventing donor site morbidity. The TruFit® plug has frequently been shown to not properly incorporate into.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the relationship between MRI findings and functional scores of patients with osteochondral lesions of the knee treated with TruFit®.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were evaluated with MOCART score for magnetic resonance imaging assessment of the repair tissue. KOOS, SF-36 and VAS were used for clinical evaluation. Correlation between size of the treated chondral defect and functional scores was also analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-seven patients with median follow-up of 44.8 months (range 24-73) were included. KOOS, SF-36 and VAS improved from a mean 58.5, 53.9 and 8.5 points to a mean 87.4, 86.6 and 1.2 at last follow-up (p<0.001). Larger lesions showed less improvement in KOOS (p=0.04) and SF-36 (p=0.029). Median Tegner values were restored to preinjury situation (5, range 2-10). Mean MOCART score was 43.2 ± 16.1. Although the cartilage layer had good integration, it showed high heterogeneity and no filling of the subchondral bone layer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TruFit® failed to restore the normal MRI aspect of the subchondral bone and lamina in most cases. The appearance of the chondral layer in MRI was partially re-established. This unfavourable MRI appearance did not adversely influence the patient's outcome in the short time and they restored their previous level of activity. There was an inverse linear relationship between the size of the lesion and the functional scores.
  
  
  METHODS
  Therapeutic case series; level 4.
authors.affiliation: ICATME-Hospital Universitari Quirón-Dexeus, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Sabino de Arana 5-19, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Sant Quintí 89, 08041 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: personal@drgelber.com.
authors.forename: Pablo Eduardo
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Gelber
authors.affiliation: Centro Artroscópico Jorge Batista S.A., Pueyrredón 2446 5° B, C1119ACU Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.affiliation: Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Sant Quintí 89, 08041 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Angélica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Millan-Billi
authors.affiliation: Centro Artroscópico Jorge Batista S.A., Pueyrredón 2446 5° B, C1119ACU Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Patthauer
authors.affiliation: Centro Artroscópico Jorge Batista S.A., Pueyrredón 2446 5° B, C1119ACU Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vera
authors.affiliation: Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Sant Quintí 89, 08041 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Mireia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gomez-Masdeu
authors.affiliation: ICATME-Hospital Universitari Quirón-Dexeus, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Sabino de Arana 5-19, 08028 Barcelona, Spain; Parc de Salut Mar, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Passeig Marítim 25, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan Carlos
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Monllau
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000601:surgery; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000601:surgery; D010007:Osteochondritis / Q000601:surgery*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology
keywords: MOCART; Magnetic resonance imaging; Osteochondral lesion; Traumatic knee; TruFit plug