Treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus with autologous collagen-induced chondrogenesis: clinical and magnetic resonance evaluation at one-year follow-up.
OBJECTIVE
the aim of this study is to report the clinical and imaging results recorded by a series of patients in whom osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLTs) were repaired using the autologous collagen-induced chondrogenesis (ACIC) technique with a completely arthroscopic approach.


METHODS
nine patients (mean age 37.4±10 years) affected by OLTs (lesion size 2.1±0.9 cm(2)) were treated with the ACIC technique. The patients were evaluated clinically both preoperatively and at 12 months after surgery using the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Ankle-Hindfoot Scale (AOFAS) and a visual analog scale (VAS). For morphological evaluation, the magnetic resonance observation of cartilage repair tissue (MOCART) score was used.


RESULTS
the AOFAS score improved from 51.4±11.6 preoperatively to 71.8±20.6 postoperatively, while the VAS value decreased from 6.9±1.8 to 3.2±1.9. The mean MOCART score was 51.7±16.6 at 12 months of follow-up; these scores did not directly correlate with the clinical results.


CONCLUSIONS
use of the ACIC technique for arthroscopic repair of OLTs allowed satisfactory clinical results to be obtained in most of the patients as soon as one year after surgery, with no major complications or delayed revision surgery. ACIC is a valid and low-invasive surgical technique for the treatment of chondral and osteochondral defects of the talus.


METHODS
therapeutic case series, level IV.
IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, USPEC, Milano, Italy.
Federico Giuseppe
FG
Usuelli
IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, USPEC, Milano, Italy.
Miriam
M
Grassi
IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, USPEC, Milano, Italy; Seconda Università degli Studi di Napoli, Napoli, Italy.
Luigi
L
Manzi
IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, USPEC, Milano, Italy; Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italy.
Vincenzo
V
Guarrella
IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, USPEC, Milano, Italy.
Michele
M
Boga
IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi, Laboratorio di Biotecnologie applicate all'Ortopedia, Milano, Italy.
Laura
L
DE Girolamo
ACIC; MOCART; arthroscopy; osteochondral lesion; talus