Despite a higher rate of preoperative osteoarthritic changes in the athletic patients, clinical outcomes of mosaicplasty in this group demonstrated a success rate similar to that of less athletic patients. Higher motivation resulted in better subjective evaluation. Slight deterioration in results occurred during the 9.6-year follow-up; thus, autologous osteochondral mosaicplasty may be a useful alternative for the treatment of 1.0- to 4.0-cm(2) focal chondral and osteochondral lesions in competitive athletes.

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