Matrices Used for Cartilage Regeneration

Abstract

Knee articular cartilage defects present significant challenges in orthopedic practice, impacting patient's quality-of-life akin to severe osteoarthritis. This review explores current surgical strategies, focusing on the efficacy and outcomes of 3 prominent matrices in the form of osteochondral scaffolds: Autologous Matrix-Induced Chondrogenesis or AMIC with Chondro-Gide (Geistlich), MaioRegen (Finceramica), and Agili-C (Smith&Nephew, CartiHeal). AMIC technique combines microfracture with a porcine-derived collagen scaffold, showing sustained long-term clinical improvements and outperforming microfracture alone. Nonetheless, lesion characteristics and patient demographics are the keys for optimal knee cartilage repair outcomes.

Keywords: AMIC; Acellular scaffold; Agili-C; MaioRegen; Osteochondral lesions.