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Significant Chondrocyte Viability Is Present in Acetabular Chondral Flaps Associated With Femoroacetabular
Vonda J Wright1, Christopher Laurence McCrum2, Hongshuai Li1
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
The American Journal of Sports Medicine
|October 13, 2017
Summary
Acetabular chondral flaps from hip impingement patients show high viability, with 87% of cells alive immediately after biopsy. This finding supports using these flaps for innovative cartilage repair techniques.
Area of Science:
- Orthopedics
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cartilage Biology
Background:
- Femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) causes cartilage damage in the hip joint.
- Chondral delamination injuries are common in FAI patients undergoing hip arthroscopy.
- Conflicting data exists on chondrocyte viability in traumatic cartilage injuries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the in vivo tissue viability of acetabular chondral flaps in FAI patients.
- To assess chondrocyte viability immediately after biopsy in the joint microenvironment.
- To hypothesize that acetabular chondral flaps contain a majority of viable chondrocytes.
Main Methods:
- Biopsy of partially detached cartilage flaps from 10 FAI patients during arthroscopic surgery.
- Minimally traumatic biopsy technique prior to chondroplasty and microfracture.
- Live/dead staining and confocal microscopy to quantify percentage of live cells.
Main Results:
- The overall proportion of live cells in acetabular chondral flaps was 85.8%.
- The average proportion of live cells per patient was 87% ± 10%.
- 6 out of 10 patients exhibited over 90% live cell viability.
Conclusions:
- Acetabular chondral flaps contain a high percentage of viable chondrocytes (approximately 87%) when analyzed immediately post-biopsy.
- These findings highlight the importance of laboratory techniques in assessing cell viability.
- High chondrocyte viability supports the use of these flaps for novel cartilage repair and replacement strategies.