A two year in vivo study of polyvinyl alcohol-hydrogel (PVA-H) artificial meniscus

For the recognized importance of knee meniscus function, the treatment of meniscus injury has been changing from resection to repair. However, depending on the type of injury, meniscectomy sometimes cannot be avoided. In such a case, it is important to anticipate the future problem of degenerative change or osteoarthrosis in the knee joint. In consideration of the prognosis and circumstances in such patients, we have developed an artificial meniscus using polyvinyl alcohol-hydrogel (PVA-H) for salvage. We have already reported the results up to 1 year after animal operation. The present study investigated the results in postoperative 2.0 years to assess further the use of artificial meniscus. In the results, the articular cartilage state of knee joint implanted PVA-H meniscus was good even after 2 years, while Osteoarthrosis (OA) change progressed in meniscectomy knee joint. In addition, neither wear, dislocation nor breakage of PVA-H was observed. These results proved that an artificial meniscus using PVA-H can compensate for meniscal function and might be clinically applicable.