My Colleague Bert Mandelbaum MD, just returned from the (ICRS) International Cartilage Repair Society Meeting in Warsaw Poland last wk with exciting news. Two studies document efficacy & safety of PRP use in cartilage disorders of the knee. Previously the only link I was aware of connecting PRP benefits with cartilage was a study by Hunziker et al. This study links one of the growth factors in PRP, TGF-b to cartilage regeneration.
Also, many patients have heard of another biologic treatment being performed in Dusseldorf Germany called Orthokine. Some of our patients have unsuccessfully tried this therapy or were considering travelling to Germany before learning about what we do here in Santa Monica. www.orthokine.com www.neue-orthopaedie.de
The following studies are available on this site. (Sorry there is no direct link available yet). We are hoping to do a large knee Osteoarthritis study on PRP soon. These new studies presented in Europe suggest that the cocktail of growth factors work on stimulating cartilage cells called “chondrocytes.” The study below injected 30 patients with knee OA in a series of 3 PRP injections at 3 week intervals. Patients were re-evaluated at 6 months. Patients younger than 60 years (presumably with less severe arthritis) improved 85% versus 30% for those over 60 years. This encourages further discussion regarding the use of PRP in OA as well as consideration of a series of injections.
The following were presented at the ICRS from Warsaw. www.cartilage.orgUtilization of Platelet-derived growth factors for the treatment of cartilage degenerative pathology from Bologna Italy by E. Kon, G. Filardo, M. Lo Presti, M. Delcogliano, F. Iacono, C. Montaperto, M. Marcacci;
Effects of autologous platelet-rich plasma on the metabolism of human articular chondrocytes
Basic Science / Growth factors
K. Nakagawa1, T. Sasho1, M. Arai1, S. Kitahara1, S. Ogino1, Y. Wada2, H. Moriya1; 1Chiba/JP, 2Ichihara/JP
