Safety and Efficacy of the Intra-articular Injection of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for the Treatment of Osteoarthritic Knee: A 5-Year Follow-up Study.

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Although successful short-term results of the intra-articular injection of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for the conservative treatment of knee osteoarthritis (OA) have been reported, the mid-term results of the injection of adipose-derived (AD) MSCs remains unknown. We assessed the mid-term safety and efficacy of the intra-articular injection of ADMSCs in patients with knee OA. Eleven patients with knee OA were prospectively enrolled and underwent serial evaluations during a 5-year follow-up of a single intra-articular injection of autologous high-dose (1.0 × 108) ADMSCs. The safety profiles were assessed using the World Health Organization Common Toxicity Criteria. The clinical evaluations included visual analog scale (VAS) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores for pain and function, respectively. The radiologic evaluations included chondral defect area and whole-organ magnetic resonance imaging scores (WORMS) by serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Hip-knee-ankle axis (HKAA) and Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grades were assessed on simple radiographs. No treatment-related adverse events occurred during the 5-year follow-up. Both VAS and total WOMAC scores improved significantly at 6 months after the injection and until the latest follow-up. Total WORMS was significantly improved until 3 years after the injection. However, the chondra

Evidence level

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

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