Active clinical trials for "Cartilage Diseases"

The purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to determine the effectiveness of treating cartilage lesions found during knee arthroscopy.

This is a 24-month, multicenter, randomized, open-label, standard treatment-controlled, parallel-group, Phase 2 study for adults with large or complicated knee articular cartilage lesions and are candidates for knee joint cartilage repair surgery. The safety and efficacy of intra-articular injections of peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) together with hyaluronic acid (HA) after subchondral drilling surgery will be evaluated to determine whether PBSC therapy can improve functional outcome and reduce pain of the knee joint better than a standard treatment (HA injections and physiotherapy regimen).

The two-layer bioresorbable HYTOP® matrix consists of an upper layer of highly purified porcine splint-skin which contains natural pores, and a lower layer of highly purified collagen fleece containing hyaluronan (HA). In this study, the medical device will be used and evaluated in a one-step procedure combining microfracturing with surgical implantation of HYTOP®. HYTOP® will support haemostasis in the articular cartilage defect, act as a support for cell growth and as a three-dimensional scaffold for cell differentiation. HYTOP® will protect the underlying tissue after cartilage debridement and/or microfracturing of the subchondral bone. The primary working hypothesis is that HYTOP® is safe and suitable as a cell-free matrix to support haemostasis, as a cover for the cartilage lesion and eventually to enhance cartilage regeneration in a one-step surgical procedure.

This is a prospective, open-label, single-dose, single-arm phase I-II study in which 15 patients diagnosed with gonarthrosis grade II-III (Kellgren and Lawrence) will enter the study with the primary objective of assessing the feasibility and safety of the knee articular infiltration of autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). Secondary objectives are to assess the efficacy by imaging procedures and clinical questionnaires. MSC obtained from each patient's bone marrow will be isolated and expanded "Ex-Vivo" under GMP conditions at Xcelia-División de Terapias avanzadas del Banc de Sang I Teixits. After 21 days, patients will be implanted a single-dose of approximately 40 millions of autologous MSC in the knee by articular injection, and followed up for 12 month. Articular cartilage changes will be determined by T2-weighted MRI (Cartigram) at 6 and 12 month. Clinical assessment will measure the pain by the visual analogue scale (VAS), the self-reported functional status by Heath Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), and the quality of life by Short Form 36 questionnaire (SF-36) at 3, 6 and 12 month. The working hypothesis proposes that the expected regenerative articular cartilage effect of the MSC will be produced to a measurable degree by imaging procedures and clinical questionnaires.

The purpose of this study is to determine if interventions applied at a distant site, lumbopelvic region (manipulation and TENS), have a similar effect as interventions applied locally at the knee (TENS) on quadriceps force output and activation as well as reports of pain during common exercises in individuals with PFPS.

The purpose of this study is to determine the performance of the Agili-C implants. The study hypothesis is that Agili-C implants are effective in the treatment of focal cartilage and cartilage-bone joint surface defects.

PST (pulsed signal therapy) is a unique form of pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF) for stimulating healing of damaged structures such as cartilage, bones and soft tissues. The physical effect of the pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) has been focus of research in various studies, with cartilage being the most studied, and which has demonstrated an increase in the synthesis of proteoglican and collagen in vitro. This is an randomized, controlled and double blind clinical trial. The main objective is to evaluate clinical improvement regarding anterior knee pain after PST intervention in patients with patellar condropathy.

The investigators hypothesized that intra-articular injections of Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) to treat knee degenerative articular cartilage pathology could determine pain relief and recovery of knee function with overall clinical outcome comparable or even better than viscosupplementation, which is a common injective approach applied in this kind of pathology. To this purpose the investigators designed a double blind randomized controlled trial comparing PRP vs viscosupplementation. A power analysis has been performed for the primary endpoint of IKDC subjective score improvement at the 12-month follow-up for PRP. From a pilot study, a standard deviation of 15.2 points was found. With an alpha error of 0.05, a beta error of 0.2 and a minimal clinically significant difference of 6.7 points corresponding at 1/3 of the documented mean improvement, the minimum sample size was 83 for each group. Considering a possible drop out of 15%, 96 patients per group are required for total 192 patients, selected according to well-defined inclusion criteria (see 'Eligibility criteria' section). Patients are then assigned to two different treatment groups, according to a randomization list. The first group of treatment consists of three weekly intra-articular injections of autologous PRP obtained with the following procedure: a 150-ml autologous venous blood sample undergoes 2 centrifugations (the first at 1480 rpm for 6 minutes to separate erythrocytes, and a second at 3400 rpm for 15 minutes to concentrate platelets) to produced 20 ml of PRP. This unit of PRP is then divided into 4 small units of 5 ml each. One unit is sent to the laboratory for analysis of platelet concentration and for a quality test, 3 units are stored at -30° C. The second treatment group consists of patients receiving three weekly injections of hyaluronic acid (Hyalubrix 30 mg/2ml, Fidia Farmaceutici Spa, Italy;Molecular Weight: 1500 kDa). To guarantee the blinding of the patients, all of them undergo blood harvesting to obtain autologous PRP which will be used only in half of them, according to the aforementioned randomization list. One week after the PRP production, the injective treatment starts, with 3 weekly injections of PRP or HA. At the moment of the injection the syringe is properly covered to prevent the patient from discovering the substance he was receiving. After the injection, patients are sent home with instructions to limit the use of the leg for at least 24 h and to use cold therapy/ice on the affected area to relieve pain. During this period, the use of non-steroidal medication is forbidden. Patients are prospectively evaluated basally and at 2, 6, and 12 months of follow-up using clinical subjective scores and objective parameters to determine clinical outcome (see 'Outcome measure' section). Patient satisfaction and adverse events will be also reported. All the clinical evaluations are performed by a medical staff not involved in the injective procedure, in order to keep the study double blinded. At the end of the study, the nature of the injected substance is revealed to the patients.

Dextrose prolotherapy is a form of treatment in which hypertonic dextrose solution is used as a stimulant solution and regeneration is increased by stimulating the body's natural healing mechanisms after injection. The aim of this study is to compare the dextrose prolotherapy applied with home exercise program and saline injections as a control group in patients who applied to our clinic with knee pain and diagnosed with chondromalacia patella, and to investigate the effectiveness of dextrose and saline on the job to determine the superiority of the injections to each other.

Information will be collected on the pre-op and post-op clinical status of patients with focal cartilage defects of the femoral condyles treated with the BioPoly RS Partial Resurfacing Knee Implant, a permanent orthopaedic implant. The overall aim of the study is to increase the knowledge of patient outcomes such as pain, knee function, level of activity, and overall quality of life after treatment with the device.