Cartilage defects

Cartilage defects can result either from an accident (car, sport …) or from a degenerative disease such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or osteochondromatosis…

 

Cartilage defects are usually irreversible due to the properties of the cartilage that is not innervated and not vascularized. More than 230 million people are affected by osteoarthritis in the world and there are 2 million knee injuries per year. The number of patients is highly increasing due to social factors like overweight and population ageing (+40%).

 

Osteoarthritis results anatomically by the destruction of cartilage in joints (knee, finger, …), which causes severe pain and a significant reduction in mobility. Osteoarthritis is considered like the most common joint disease. Osteoarthritis costs € 1.8 billion / year for 6 million people affected in France.

2 million knee accidents by year

Cartilage defects are very common and especially in the knee. They result meanly from sport injury, car accident or degenerative osteoarticular disease

Pain and immobilization

Cartilage defects cause pain, loss of mobility, stop of sports activities, sick leave, isolation.

Cartilage defects lead to OA

Cartilage defects are usually irreversible due to the biological properties of the cartilage and lead inevitably to tissue degeneration.

Arthroplasty is needed a few years later

Nearly 10 years later, the tissues are very altered. The patient underwent a significant surgery for placement of a prosthesis. A long rehabilitation is required.

230 Millions patients OA

2,76 billion $ by year

+40% by 2040

PATIENT CARE

No performant treatment is able today to repair cartilage defects for long-term. Treatments offered to patients are : oral palliatives, infiltration of cortocosteroids to reduce inflammation, injection of hyaluronic acid for lubrification, surgical techniques to cover cartilage damage like mosaiplasty or microfractures, which meanly lead to fibrocartilage with low mechanical capacity and not durable, and finally for worst cases, the replacement with prosthesis.