BACKGROUND The restoration of damaged meniscus has always been a challenge due to its limited healing capacity. Recently, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) provide a promising alternative to repair meniscal defects. However, BMSCs are not ideal chondroprogenitor cells for meniscus repair because they have a high propensity for cartilage hypertrophy and bone formation. Our hypot...

Meniscus injury is a frequently encountered clinical orthopedic issue and is epidemiologically correlated to osteoarthritis. The development of new treatments for meniscus injury is intimately related to the appropriateness of animal models for their investigation. The purpose of this study was to structurally compare human menisci to sheep and rabbit menisci to generate pertinent animal models...

INTRODUCTION Discoid meniscus is an atavistic anomaly in which the meniscus of the knee, predominantly the lateral meniscus, is discoid rather than semilunar in shape. The abnormality is diagnosed relatively infrequently and may even go unrecognized or be untreated. Treatment has consisted of either partial or complete meniscectomy performed either arthroscopically or by open arthrotomy. Our pu...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes of the internal (IID) and external meniscal interhorn distance (EID) of the medial and the lateral meniscus under loading. Sagittal magnetic resonance images of 15 knees were studied. The medial and lateral meniscus were examined with the knee at 0 degrees and 30 degrees of flexion, under no load, with load equal to 50% of body weight and with l...

Few therapeutic options exist for meniscus repair after injury. Local delivery of growth factors may stimulate repair and create a favorable environment for engineered replacement materials. In this study we assessed the effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) (a pro-mitotic agent) and transforming growth factor β3 (TGF-β3) (a pro-matrix formation agent) on meniscus repair and the integ...

PURPOSE To measure the lower tear meniscus dynamics with Fourier domain-optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) in keratoconus patients without dry eye findings to evaluate the effects of the corneal ectasia on lower tear meniscus parameters, and to determine the most affected meniscus variable from the corneal ectasia in keratoconus. METHODS Prospective, clinical study. Forty-one eyes of 25 ke...

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical examination are tools commonly used in the diagnosis of meniscus tears. It has been suggested routine MRI before therapeutic arthroscopy for clinically diagnosed meniscus tears will reduce the number and cost of unnecessary invasive procedures. We designed a systematic review of prospective cohort studies comparing MRI and clinical examination to ar...

Meniscal damage is a common problem that accelerates the onset of knee osteoarthritis. Stem cell-based tissue engineering treatment approaches have shown promise in preserving meniscal tissue and restoring meniscal function. The purpose of our study was to identify meniscus-derived stem/progenitor cells (MSPCs) from mouse, a model system that allows for in vivo analysis of the mechanisms underl...

The knee meniscus is a fibrocartilaginous tissue vital to orthopedic health but critically lacking in regenerative capacity. Over 450,000 meniscectomies are performed annually in the US, and such defects are left empty due to the lack of a suitable meniscus replacement. Meniscectomies, however, have been shown to lead to osteoarthritis. Meniscus tissue generated in vitro may greatly improve cur...

Introduction Given the limitations of meniscectomy and meniscal repair, allograft meniscus replacement is gaining momentum. Allografts incorporate into the joint and relieve pain in the short term, but arthroscopic or MRI evaluation reveals evidence of arthrosis and allograft tearing [1]. Research into alternative preservation methods is needed since current processes do not deter enzymatic deg...