Autologous Osteochondral Transfer Demonstrates Satisfactory Clinical Outcomes and Durable Cartilage Properties: A Mean 4-Year Follow-up Using Quantitative MRI
Case series reports improvements in clinical scores for patients undergoing autologous osteochondral transfer, suggesting cartilage stability correlates poorly with clinical outcomes.
Key Points
Postoperative improvements in clinical scores persisted through a mean 4-year follow-up, indicating lasting benefits for patients.
The mean MOCART score showed no significant changes from early to midterm follow-ups, consistently indicating cartilage stability.
Assessments revealed significant correlations between clinical outcomes and initial MOCART scores, especially with VAS improvements during follow-up.
The findings suggest that clinical improvements may occur despite stable MRI results, reflecting a limited relationship between cartilage structure and patient-reported outcomes.