Autologous Costal Cartilage Graft—A New Method to Treat Articular Cartilage Defects: Case Report and Note of Surgical Technique

Abstract

Full-thickness articular cartilage defects do not heal spontaneously. Several techniques have been developed to address this issue, but none resulted in the restitutio ad integrum of the articular cartilage. The most frequent sites of chondral lesion in the knee are medial femoral condyle and patella. The patellofemoral lesions are characterized by outcomes that are generally worse than those of tibiofemoral ones. To date, it has been well recognized the chondrogenic potential of rib perichondrium, and costal cartilage grafts have been extensively used in reconstructive surgery. Considering the need to find a gold standard technique to restore articular defect, we developed and here described a new technique to repair cartilage lesions of the knee using autologous costal cartilage graft with its perichondrium. This innovative surgical approach can be used to treat full thickness articular defects using autologous hyaline cartilage, making it possible to cover wide defects. This one step technique is low invasive, not technically demanding with minimal donor site morbidity and it has low costs. The long-term clinical efficacy of the method remains to be evaluated.

Autologous Costal Chondral/Osteochondral Transplantation and Costa‐Derived Chondrocyte Implantation for Articular Cartilage Repair: Basic Science and Clinical Applications

“…Gigante et al ( 2018) described one case using the autologous costal cartilage graft with perichondrium to repair fullthickness chondral defects in the patella. 15 Zhang et al…”

“…Since autologous costal chondral transplantation has been used in plastic and cosmetic surgery, there have been increasing practices restoring the articular chondral and osteochondral lesions with costa-derived graft(s). [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] In this review, we discuss the properties of costal cartilage and bone and their qualifications as grafts for articular cartilage repair, the major clinical applications of autologous chondral/osteochondral transplantation and costa-derived chondrocyte implantation (Figure 1), and the risks and strategies involved in the costal harvest. Through this review, we hope this technique can be better understood.…”

Autologous Costal Osteochondral Transplantation for Cystic Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus: Feasible and Effective

“…introduced the autologous costal cartilage graft with perichondrium for repairing full‐thickness chondral defects in the patella. The technique is low invasive and costs, and has minimal donor‐site morbidity 11 …”

“…6 Magnetic resonance properties of the grafts were very similar to native hyaline cartilage. 6 Gigante et al 11 introduced the autologous costal cartilage graft with perichondrium for repairing fullthickness chondral defects in the patella. The technique is low invasive and costs, and has minimal donor-site morbidity.…”

“…The technique is low invasive and costs, and has minimal donor-site morbidity. 11 However, there is rare similar application in foot and ankle. To our best knowledge, the present study is the first to report autologous costal osteochondral transplantation (ACOT) for osteochondral lesions around the ankle, especially in the talus.…”