BACKGROUND: Osteochondral lesions on the lateral process of the talus involving the subtalar joint are rare; the optimal surgical treatment remains to be clarified as there are few reports. Additionally, bilateral cases are extremely rare. Therefore, the clinical outcomes of the surgical treatment for bilateral osteochondral lesions on the lateral process of the talus involving the subtalar joint have not been fully elucidated.
METHODS: A 16-year-old boy who played soccer presented to our hospital with bilateral hindfoot pain. The symptoms persisted even after 3 months of conservative treatment. The patient and family requested surgical treatment to relieve the symptoms.
METHODS: The patient was diagnosed with bilateral osteochondral lesions on the lateral process of the talus, involving the subtalar joint based on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging findings.
METHODS: Arthroscopic debridement and microfracture were performed bilaterally.
RESULTS: Postoperative computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of both feet revealed remodeling of the subchondral bone. The patient returned to play at the pre-injury level with no pain.
CONCLUSIONS: This report describes a case of bilateral osteochondral lesions on the lateral process of the talus, involving the subtalar joint. Arthroscopic debridement and microfracture were effective in relieving symptoms and the subchondral bone remodeling. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of arthroscopic treatment of osteochondral lesions of the lateral process of the talus involving the subtalar joint.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to compare the radiological, biomechanical, and histopathological results of microfracture treatment and osteochondral damage repair treatment with a new scaffold product produced by the three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting method containing gelatin-hyaluronic acid-alginate in rabbits with osteochondral damage.
METHODS: A new 3D bioprinted scaffold consisting of gelatin, hyaluronic acid, and alginate designed by us was implanted into the osteochondral defect created in the femoral trochlea of 10 rabbits. By randomization, it was determined which side of 10 rabbits would be repaired with a 3D bioprinted scaffold, and microfracture treatment was applied to the other knees of the rabbits. After six months of follow-up, the rabbits were sacrificed. The results of both treatment groups were compared radiologically, biomechanically, and histopathologically.
RESULTS: None of the rabbits experienced any complications. The magnetic resonance imaging evaluation showed that all osteochondral defect areas were integrated with healthy cartilage in both groups. There was no significant difference between the groups in the biomechanical load test (p=0.579). No statistically significant difference was detected in the histological examination using the modified Wakitani scores (p=0.731).
CONCLUSIONS: Our study results showed that 3D bioprinted scaffolds exhibited comparable radiological, biomechanical, and histological properties to the conventional microfracture technique for osteochondral defect treatment.

Osteochondral lesion of the talus (OLT) is a localized cartilage and subchondral bone injury of the talus trochlea. OLT is caused by trauma and other reasons, including osteochondritis dissecans of the talus (OCD) and talus osteochondral tangential fracture. OLT can develop from being asymptomatic to subchondral bone cysts accompanied by deep ankle pain. OLT tends to occur on the medial and lateral sides of the talar vault. OLT seriously affects the patients\' life and work and may even lead to disability. Herein, we reviewed advances in the treatment of OLT and the strengths and weaknesses of various treatments. Different treatment methods, including conservative treatments and surgical treatments, can be adopted according to the different subtypes or clinical symptoms of OLT. Conservative treatments mostly relieve symptoms in the short term and only slow down the disease. In recent years, it has been discovered that platelet-rich plasma injection, microfracture, periosteal bone grafting, talar cartilage transplantation, allograft bone transplantation, reverse drilling under robotic navigation, and other methods can achieve considerable benefits when each of these treatment methods is applied. Furthermore, microfracture combined with platelet-rich plasma injections, microfracture combined with cartilage transplantation, and various other treatment methods combined with anterior talofibular ligament repair have all led to good treatment outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: Autologous matrix-induced chondrogenesis (AMIC®) and microfracture are established treatments for focal chondral defects in the knee, but there are little clinical data concerning these procedures over the long term. This study evaluates the outcomes of AMIC® compared to microfracture over 10-year follow-up.
METHODS: Forty-seven patients were randomized and treated either with MFx (n = 13), sutured AMIC® (n = 17) or glued AMIC® (n = 17) in a prospective, randomized, controlled multicentre trial. The Modified Cincinnati Knee Score, a visual analogue scale for pain and MOCART score were used to assess outcomes over 10 years post-operatively.
RESULTS: All treatment arms improved in the first 2 years, but a progressive and significant deterioration in scores was observed in the MFx group, while both AMIC® groups remained stable. MOCART scores were comparable between groups.
CONCLUSIONS: The AMIC® procedure results in improved patient outcomes in comparison with microfracture up to 10 years following surgery for the repair of focal chondral defects in the knee.
RESULTS: gov Identifier: NCT02993510.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of osteochondral defects (OCDs) of the knee joint remains challenging. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical and radiological results of osteochondral regeneration following intra-articular injections of autologous peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) plus hyaluronic acid (HA) after arthroscopic subchondral drilling into OCDs of the knee joint.
METHODS: Five patients with OCDs of the knee joint are presented. The etiology includes osteochondritis dissecans, traumatic knee injuries, previously failed cartilage repair procedures involving microfractures and OATS (osteochondral allograft transfer systems). PBSC were harvested 1 week after surgery. Patients received intra-articular injections at week 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 after surgery. Then at 6 months after surgery, intra-articular injections were administered at a weekly interval for 3 consecutive weeks. These 3 weekly injections were repeated at 12, 18 and 24 months after surgery. Each patient received a total of 17 injections. Subjective International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) scores and MRI scans were obtained preoperatively and postoperatively at serial visits. At follow-ups of >5 years, the mean preoperative and postoperative IKDC scores were 47.2 and 80.7 respectively (p = 0.005). IKDC scores for all patients exceeded the minimal clinically important difference values of 8.3, indicating clinical significance. Serial MRI scans charted the repair and regeneration of the OCDs with evidence of bone growth filling-in the base of the defects, followed by reformation of the subchondral bone plate and regeneration of the overlying articular cartilage.
CONCLUSIONS: These case studies showed that this treatment is able to repair and regenerate both the osseous and articular cartilage components of knee OCDs.

暂无摘要。

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the most used scales in the assessment of the clinical outcomes for the treatment of osteochondral lesions of the talus.
METHODS: We performed a systematic review of the PubMed/MEDLINE databases from September 1999 to September 2019, based on the guidelines established by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The research strategy was: osteochondral [All Fields], AND (\"talus\" [MeSH Terms] OR \"talus\" [All Fields]) AND lesion [All Fields]. Of the 364 articles found in the literature, 166 (45%) were included in the study and 198 (55%) excluded. In total, 23 clinical assessment tools were used in the studies.
RESULTS: We found 49.4% of the studies to use the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Ankle-Hindfoot Scale (AOFAS Ankle-Hindfoot Scale) and 29.5% the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).
CONCLUSIONS: The use of AOFAS increased in relation to VAS in the last 6 years (p = 0.046), and these two scales, either alone or combined, were the most used for studying osteochondral lesions of the talus. Level of Evidence III, Systematic Review of Level II studies.
OBJECTIVE: Este estudo propõe revisar sistematicamente a literatura para identificar as escalas mais utilizadas da avaliação clínica de resultados do tratamento das LOTs.
UNASSIGNED: Foi realizada revisão sistemática das bases de dados do PubMed/MEDLINE, desde setembro de 1999 a setembro 2019 baseado nas diretrizes PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses). A estratégia de pesquisa foi: osteochondral [All Fields], AND (“talus” [MeSH Terms] OR “talus” [All Fields]) AND lesion [All Fields]. De 364 artigos, foram incluídos no estudo 166 (45%) e excluídos 198 (55%). Foram observadas 23 escalas de avaliação clínica utilizadas.
RESULTS: A escala AOFAS e EVA de dor foram as mais utilizadas, ocorrendo em 49,4% e 29,5% dos artigos, respectivamente. Foi observado aumento de uso de AOFAS e diminuição EVA nos últimos 6 anos (p = 0,046).
UNASSIGNED: As ferramentas Escala AOFAS e EVA para dor demonstraram ser as mais usadas na literatura para avaliação de resultados do tratamento da lesão osteocondral de tálus, tanto isoladamente, quanto combinadas. Nível de Evidência III, Revisão Sistemática de Estudos de Nível II.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intra-articular injections of autologous peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) plus hyaluronic acid (HA) after arthroscopic subchondral drilling into massive chondral defects of the knee joint and to determine whether PBSC therapy can improve functional outcome and reduce pain of the knee joint better than HA plus physiotherapy.
This is a dual-center randomized controlled trial (RCT). Sixty-nine patients aged 18 to 55 years with International Cartilage Repair Society grade 3 and 4 chondral lesions (size ≥3 cm2) of the knee joint were randomized equally into (1) a control group receiving intra-articular injections of HA plus physiotherapy and (2) an intervention group receiving arthroscopic subchondral drilling into chondral defects and postoperative intra-articular injections of PBSCs plus HA. The coprimary efficacy endpoints were subjective International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS)-pain subdomain measured at month 24. The secondary efficacy endpoints included all other KOOS subdomains, Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), and Magnetic Resonance Observation of Cartilage Repair Tissue (MOCART) scores.
At 24 months, the mean IKDC scores for the control and intervention groups were 48.1 and 65.6, respectively (P < .0001). The mean for KOOS-pain subdomain scores were 59.0 (control) and 86.0 (intervention) with P < .0001. All other KOOS subdomain, NRS, and MOCART scores were statistically significant (P < .0001) at month 24. Moreover, for the intervention group, 70.8% of patients had IKDC and KOOS-pain subdomain scores exceeding the minimal clinically important difference values, indicating clinical significance. There were no notable adverse events that were unexpected and related to the study drug or procedures.
Arthroscopic marrow stimulation with subchondral drilling into massive chondral defects of the knee joint followed by postoperative intra-articular injections of autologous PBSCs plus HA is safe and showed a significant improvement of clinical and radiologic scores compared with HA plus physiotherapy.
Level I, RCT.

OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aimed to identify the available evidence regarding the comparative effectiveness and safety of various operative treatments in adult patients with osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT).
METHODS: The PubMed, Embase, ISI Web of Knowledge, and the Cochrane Controlled Trial Register of Controlled Trials were searched from their inception date to September 2019. Two reviewers selected the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs assessing the comparative effectiveness and safety of various operative treatments for OLT. The meta-analysis was performed using Revman 5.3.
RESULTS: Eight studies (1 RCT and 7 non-RCTs) with 375 patients were included in this review. The difference in the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score between the cartilage repair and replacement was not significant. The cartilage regeneration with or without cartilage repair had significant superiority in improving the AOFAS score compared with the cartilage repair. The difference in the magnetic resonance observation of cartilage repair tissue score between the cartilage repair and replacement and between cartilage repair and cartilage repair plus regeneration was significant.
CONCLUSIONS: Cartilage regeneration and cartilage repair plus regeneration had significant superiority in improving the ankle function and radiological evaluation of OLT, although the trials included did not have high-level evidence. Moreover, which treatment between the 2 was safer could not be addressed in this review as most of the trials did not report the safety outcome. Further studies are needed to define the best surgical option for treating OLT.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the effect of adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) on osteochondral defects treated by hyaluronic acid (HA)-based scaffold in a rabbit model.
METHODS: Eighteen white New Zealand rabbits were randomly grouped into the experimental group (n=9) and control group (n=9). In all groups, osteochondral defects were induced on the weight-bearing surfaces of the right femoral medial condyles, and a HA-based scaffold was applied to the defect area with microfractures (MFs). In this study, 1 mL of adipose-derived SVF was injected into the knee joints of the rabbits in the experimental group. For histological and macroscopic evaluation, four rabbits were randomly selected from each group at Week 4, and the remaining rabbits were sacrificed at the end of Week 8. Macroscopic assessments of all samples were performed based on the Brittberg scoring system, and microscopic evaluations were performed based on the O\'Driscoll scores.
RESULTS: Samples were taken at Weeks 4 and 8. At Week 4, the O\'Driscoll scores were significantly higher in the control group than the experimental group (p=0.038), while there was no significant difference in the Brittberg scores between the two groups (p=0.108). At Week 8, the O\'Driscoll score and Brittberg scores were statistically higher in the experimental group than in the control group (p=0.008 and p=0.007, respectively). According to the microscopic evaluation, at the end of Week 8, the cartilage thickness was greater in the experimental group, and nearly all of the defect area was filled with hyaline cartilage.
CONCLUSIONS: Application of adipose-derived SVF with MF-HA-based scaffold was better than MF-HA-based scaffold treatment in improving osteochondral regeneration. Therefore, it can be used in combination with microfracture and scaffold to accelerate cartilage regeneration, particularly in the treatment of secondary osteoarthritis.