Open AccessSatisfactory clinical results and low failure rate of medial collagen meniscus implant (CMI) at a minimum 20 years of follow‐up
Author(s) -
Lucidi Gian Andrea,
Grassi Alberto,
Alzu’bi Belal Bashar Hamdan,
Macchiarola Luca,
Agosti Piero,
Marcacci Maurilio,
Zaffagnini Stefano
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.806
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1433-7347
pISSN - 0942-2056
DOI - 10.1007/s00167-021-06556-1
Subject(s) - medicine , surgery , magnetic resonance imaging , valgus , osteoarthritis , implant , meniscus , medial meniscus , high tibial osteotomy , radiology , incidence (geometry) , physics , alternative medicine , pathology , optics
Purpose The aim of the study was to evaluate the long‐term clinical results, reoperations, surgical failure and complications at a minimum of 20 year of follow‐up of the first 8 medial CMI scaffolds implanted by a single surgeon during a pilot European Prospective study. Methods Seven (88%) out of 8 patients were contacted. The Cincinnati Score, VAS, and Lysholm score were collected. Moreover, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed on 4 patients at the last follow‐up. Complications, reoperations and failures were also investigated. Results The average follow‐up was 21.5 ± 0.5 years. One patient underwent TKA after 13 years from CMI implantation; a second patient underwent valgus high tibial osteotomy 8 years after the index surgery and another patient underwent anterior cruciate ligament hardware removal at 21 years of follow‐up. At the final follow‐up, 3 patients were rated as “Excellent”, 1 as “Good” and 2 as “Fair” according to the Lysholm score. The Cincinnati score and the VAS were substantially stable over time. The MRI showed a mild osteoarthritis progression in 3 out of 4 patients according to the Yulish score, and the CMI signal was similar to the mid‐term follow‐up revealing 3 cases of myxoid degeneration and 1 case of normal signal with reduced scaffold size. Conclusion The medial CMI is a safe procedure: satisfactory clinical results and a low failure rate could be expected even at a long‐term follow‐up. For this purpose, the correct indication as well as correcting axial malalignment and addressing knee instability at the time of the index surgery is mandatory. On the other hand, a mild osteoarthritis progression could be expected even after meniscus replacement. Level of evidence IV.