Electromechanical properties of articular cartilage: A reliable method for assessing allograft permormance in vivo

Purpose: Osteochondral allograft transplantation (OAT) has a good clinical outcome; however, a reliable minimally-invasive technique is needed for rapid intraoperative evaluation of cartilage quality. Non-destructive assessment of cartilage electromechanical properties offers simple way to monitor cartilage healing after OAT. The purpose of the study was to detect correlation between cartilage electromechanical and histological properties after OAT.

Methods: Osteochondral transplantation using autologous (AT), allogeneic fresh (AF) and allogeneic preserved (AP) graft stored for 14 days in DMEM at 4°C was performed in goats. Empty non-treated defect used as control (CT). The electromechanical properties (quantitative parameter (QP)) of cartilage were evaluated with Arthro-BST after 3 and 6 month post-transplantation, and results were compared with the histological findings. Cartilage healing was evaluated macroscopically, using modified Oswestry Arthroscopy Score, and microscopically, using O'Driscoll histological grading score. The results were compared between different transplantation groups and correlations among different evaluation methods were determined using Spearman's correlation coefficient.

Results: No significant difference in cartilage healing was observed between different transplantation groups after 3 month; however, after 6 month, the results in autologous and fresh allograft transplantation groups were slightly better compared to preserved allograft transplantation group (Figure 1). The electromechanical QP correlated with the OAS score (r = −0.655, p<0.001) and O'Driscoll histological grading score (r = −0.545, p<0.001).

Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that electromechanical QP correlates well with histological findings after OAT. Measurement of electromechanical properties of articular cartilage is quick and reliable method to evaluate osteochondral graft performance in vivo.