Microfracture is a minimal invasive method with good short-term results in the treatment of small cartilage defects. A deterioration of the results starts 18 months after surgery and is most evident in the ICRS-score. The best prognostic factors have young patients with defects on the femoral condyles.

No abstract

A major proportion of complications after ACI can be summarized by 4 major diagnoses (symptomatic hypertrophy, disturbed fusion, delamination, and graft failure). Among those, the overall complication rate and incidence of hypertrophy of the transplant were higher for periosteum-covered ACI. Furthermore, an increased rate of symptomatic hypertrophy was found for patellar defects. Therapeutic concepts need to be developed to treat these typical complications of ACI.

No abstract

There is an increasing awareness on the importance in identifying early phases of the degenerative processes in knee osteoarthritis (OA), the crucial period of the disease when there might still be the possibility to initiate treatments preventing its progression. Early OA may show a diffuse and ill-defined involvement, but also originate in the cartilage surrounding a focal lesion, thus necessitating a separate assessment of these two entities. Early OA can be considered to include a maximal involvement of 50 % of the cartilage thickness based on the macroscopic ICRS classification, reflecting an OARSI grade 4. The purpose of this paper was to provide an updated review of the current status of the diagnosis and definition of early knee OA, including the clinical, radiographical, histological, MRI, and arthroscopic definitions and biomarkers. Based on current evidence, practical classification criteria are presented. As new insights and technologies become available, they will further evolve to better define and treat early knee OA.

No abstract

No abstract

First-generation ACI leads to satisfying clinical results in terms of patient satisfaction, reduction of pain, and improvement in knee function. Nevertheless, full restoration of knee function cannot be achieved. Although MRI reveals lesions in the majority of the cases and the overall MOCART score seems moderate, this could not be correlated with long-term clinical outcomes.