title: Viability of Pathologic Cartilage Fragments as a Source for Autologous Chondrocyte Cultures.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study if a culture of chondrocytes can be obtained from pathologic hyaline cartilage (PHC) fragments.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five men and 9 women with osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) in 11 cases, arthrosis in 13 patients, and trauma in the remaining 10 cases were included. The PHC fragments and a small sample of the next healthy cartilage were extracted by arthroscopy. According to the appearance, the PHC samples were divided into fixed (3 cases), flapped (6 patients), or loose bodies (25 cases), depending on the attachment degree of the cartilage to the subchondral bone. Approximately half of each pathologic sample and the whole healthy one were digested to isolate the cells trying to establish the cell culture.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We were able to establish a cell culture in 7 out of 34 (20.6%) PHC samples (positive samples), whereas in the remaining 27 (79.4%) no cell growth was observed (negative samples). Most of the negative samples were loose bodies (P = 0.005) taken from patients with OCD or arthrosis (P = 0.001) with an evolution time of more than 1 year (P < 0.001). The best binary logistic regression model (P < 0.001) showed that the only factor affecting the establishment of cell culture was the evolution time (P = 0.044).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is possible to culture chondrocytes from osteochondral fragments if they are traumatic, within a year of injury and not from fragments due to arthrosis or OCD.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit, CLÍNICA CEMTRO, Madrid, Spain; Sports Traumatology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guillén-García
authors.affiliation: Research Unit, CLÍNICA CEMTRO, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Iñigo
authors.affiliation: Research Unit, CLÍNICA CEMTRO, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guillén-Vicente
authors.affiliation: Research Unit, CLÍNICA CEMTRO, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guillén-Vicente
authors.affiliation: Research Unit, CLÍNICA CEMTRO, Madrid, Spain; Sports Traumatology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Tomás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fernández-Jaén
authors.affiliation: Research Unit, CLÍNICA CEMTRO, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Concejero
authors.affiliation: Pathology Department, Hospital Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Val
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, FREMAP, Gijon, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maestro
authors.affiliation: Research Unit, CLÍNICA CEMTRO, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abelow
authors.affiliation: Research Unit, CLÍNICA CEMTRO, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: López-Alcorocho
keywords: articular cartilage; cells; chondrocytes; joint involved; knee; tissue