Orthopedics Today reports on the findings of an HSS study presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting by Mark C. Drakos, MD, foot and ankle surgeon at HSS, which evaluated the treatment of allogenic cartilage extracellular matrix and bone marrow aspirate concentrate compared to microfracture alone in patients with osteochondral lesions of the talus.

Dr. Drakos and colleagues identified patients with osteochondral lesions of the talus, and of those patients, 47 were treated with microfracture alone; 47 with microfracture augmented with bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC); and 52 with a combination of adjuvant particulate allogenic cartilage extracellular matrix and BMAC. Following a retrospective chart review, the researchers studied information on lesion size, location and concurrent injuries. Preoperatively and at one year postoperatively, the foot and ankle outcomes scores (FAOS) were collected through a prospective registry database. The modified MR observation of cartilage repair tissue (MOCART) score was used to assess the structural quality of repaired lesions on MRIs collected at more than six months postoperatively. Further analyses of variance tests were conducted to evaluate MOCART and FAOS scores.

According to the researchers, adjuvant therapy may be linked with improved postoperative fill and structural integrity. “In our study, we found that there was a lower failure rate when bone marrow aspirate concentrate was mixed with particulate allogenic cartilage after cellular matrix in the treatment of these lesions,” said Dr. Drakos.

Read the full article at Healio.com.