| abstract |
For repair of cartilage damaged as part of the degenerative effects of osteoarthritis, the inventors have found that the human mesenchymal stem cell approach makes it possible to: 1) regenerate both shallow cartilage chondral defects and full thickness cartilage defects (osteochondral lesions); 2) broaden the suitable clinical population to routinely include middle-aged patients; 3) eliminate the use of autologous tissue grafts (mature cartilage and the periosteal covering) to repair an articular cartilage injury; 4) regenerate other types of injured cartilage such as patellar and spinal disk cartilage; 5) regenerate articular joint cartilage in older patients with osteoarthritis; and 6) form new cartilage and subchondral bone which fully integrate into the adjacent normal tissue. |