ABSTRACT
The degenerative arthritis following total menisectomy has led to consideration of the need for meniscal transplantation, this study evaluates the morphologic and histologic changes fol lowing fresh meniscal autograft and allograft in therabbits. Transplantation of the medial meniscus was carried out in two groups of 32 rabbits(autograft group=16 rabbits, allograft group=16 rabbits). The morphological and histological changes of the transplanted auto-and allografted menisci and the articular cartilage of the medial femoral and tibial condyle were observed at 2,4,6,8,10,12,22,28 weeks postoperatively. There were no significant differences between auto and allograft groups in gross appearance. Histologically, the fibrous adhesion was noted between grafted meniscus and joint capsule 2 weeks after operation, but complete healing was seen at the suture sites without rejection phenomenon at 6 weeks in both groups. There were prominent inflammatory reactions such as lymphocytes and inflammatory cells infiltration during early postoperative stages(2,4 weeks) only in the allograft group, and more prominent fibrotic reactions in the allograft group than auto-graft group. The results of this study suggest that meniscal allografts are able to adapt to the host tissues, survive within the joint environment, and provide a functional replacement for the removed meniscus, but further studies for graft-host immune response and a method to take the maintenance and deposits of graft must be needed to perform the meniscal allograft in human.
Subject(s)
Humans , Rabbits , Allografts , Autografts , Cartilage, Articular , Joint Capsule , Joints , Knee Joint , Knee , Lymphocytes , Menisci, Tibial , Methods , Osteoarthritis , Sutures , TransplantsABSTRACT
We had a female patient with soft tissue tumor involving large portion of Achilles tendon. After resection of tumor, Achilles tendon was reconstructed using an allogenic human fascia lata manufactured by Pfrimmer-Viggo. EMG findings on postoperative 8 months show marked improvement of function of medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles. Biopsy specimen of fascia lata allograft, which was acquired during TAL 8 months postoperatively, shows myxoid degeneration, a few lymphocytic infiltration and some foreign body giant cells. Functional, histologic and EMG findings suggest that human fascia lata allograft could be used to bridge defect of Achilles tendon being resected during tumor surgery.