If you have had a traumatic injury to your knee with minimal arthritis with damage to the cartilage, you may be a candidate for cartilage harvesting, amplification and reimplantation to regrow new cartilage into the defect. The procedure is called MACI or Matrix Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation.
My name is Chris Pallia, MD, and I'm from Synergy Orthopedic Specialists in San Diego, California. Here are the updated criteria for this exciting procedure.
MACI may be considered medically necessary for the treatment of disabling full thickness articular cartilage defects of the knee caused by acute or repetitive trauma, when all of the following criteria are met:
The patient is skeletally mature with documented closure of growth plates and not considered an appropriate candidate for total knee arthroplasty or other reconstructive knee surgery (e.g., age greater than 15 and less than 55),
Focal, full thickness (grade III or IV) unipolar or some bipolar lesions of the weight bearing surface of the femoral condyles, trochlea, or patella at least 1.5 cm2 in size,
Documented minimal to absent degenerative changes in the surrounding articular cartilage, and normal appearing hyaline cartilage surrounding the border of the defect,
Normal knee biomechanics, or alignment and stability achieved concurrently with autologous chondrocyte implantation.
Please don't hesitate to reach out to our office to schedule an appointment or ask any questions you may have. If you're interested or think you might have a focal cartilage lesion that needs treatment, I'd be happy to evaluate you at my office in Coronado or Sorrento Valley. Please call (619) 435-7282.