Human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cell implantation for osteoarthritis of the knee

• Published in: Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery 2020-04, Vol.140 (4), p.503-509
• Main Authors: Song, Jun-Seob, Hong, Ki-Taek, Kim, Na-Min, Park, Han-Soo, Choi, Nam-Hong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arthritis; Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine; Cartilage; Clinical outcomes; Defects; Knee; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Orthopedics; Stem cells; Umbilical cord
• ISSN: 0936-8051; 1434-3916
• DOI: 10.1007/s00402-020-03349-y

Introduction This study aimed to investigate the clinical outcomes after human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cell (hUCB-MSC) implantation for medial compartment (MC) osteoarthritis of the knee. Materials and methods Inclusion criteria were patients older than 60 years, with a kissing lesion of the MC, a full-thickness chondral defect ≥ 4 cm 2 of the medial femoral condyle (MFC), and a varus deformity ≥ 3° on a long cassette scanogram. The mean age was 64.9 ± 4.4 years and the mean chondral defect of the MFC was 7.2 ± 1.9 cm 2 . A mixture of sodium hyaluronate and hUCB-MSC was implanted into the chondral defect and a high tibial osteotomy was performed in all patients. International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), visual analog scale (VAS), and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores were evaluated preoperatively and 1 year and 2 years postoperatively. Cartilage regeneration was evaluated in 14 (56%) patients by second-look arthroscopy at 1 year postoperatively. Results Twenty-five patients underwent hUBC-MSC implantation. IKDC, VAS, and WOMAC scores at 1 year and 2 years improved significantly compared to preoperative scores. These scores at 1 year and 2 years were not significantly different between the body mass index (BMI)