The Present and the Future of Cartilaginous Repair

Abstract

The treatment of cartilage lesions constitutes one of the most binding challenges in the field of orthopaedics due to the fact that articular cartilage possesses a very limited intrinsic reparative capacity because of its scarse vascular content. There have been many attempts to obtain reconstruction with longeval hyaline cartilage, but none have obtained satisfactory results. One of the most promising procedures is tissue engineering coupled with gene therapy. This method renders it possible to obtain, for a prolonged period, high gene expression in the area of the lesion. Recent studies have demonstrated how, not only chondrocytes, but muscle derived cells as well, possess the capacity to transport genes in the location of the lesion. It has also been noted recently that between muscle derived cells there exist staminal cells which are possible candidates for gene therapy for the treatment of chondral lesion.