Researchers at the University Hospital of Basal, Switzerland, have taken cartilage cells from nasal septums and used them to generate new cartilage for placement in damaged knees. As reported by Joseph Keenan, of Fierce Medical Devices, doctors took cells from the nasal septums of seven patients and, after the cultures multiplied, applied them to a scaffold that grew a 30 by 40 millimeter cartilage graft. The graft was used to replace damaged cartilage tissue in the knees of the patients, all of whom were under the age of 55.
Nasal Cells Grow Cartilage in Knees
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The study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The researchers noted that the nasal cartilage cell’s ability to grow in the knee joint environment was associated with the expression of genes called “HOX genes.”
Keenan quoted Professor Ivan Martin, the lead researcher in the study as saying, “The findings from the basic research and the preclinical studies on the properties of nasal cartilage cells and the resulting engineered transplants have opened up the possibility to investigate an innovative clinical treatment of cartilage damage.”
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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