PURPOSE To report the normal sonographic anatomy of the triangular fibrocartilage (TFC) of the wrist in cadavers and volunteers. METHOD Five hands from cadavers were examined sonographically before and after wrist dissection, during which the TFC was marked with surgical wires. Twenty volunteers without wrist limitation or pain, and without any history of wrist disease or inflammatory arthrit...

INTRODUCTION: Over 300,000 rotator cuff repair surgeries are performed annually[1]. Injuries to the rotator cuff often occur at the tendon-to-bone insertion[2], thus tendon integration is critical for long term stability and functionality of clinical repair. The native tendon-tobone junction consists of a continuous transition from the tendon proper to non-calcified and calcified fibrocartilage...

The potential of novel scaffold containing sodium hyaluronate, type I collagen, and fibrin was investigated in the regeneration of osteochondral defects in miniature pigs. Both autologous chondrocyte-seeded scaffolds and non-seeded scaffolds were implanted into two defects located in the non-weight-bearing zone of the femoral trochlea (defect A was located more distally and medially, defect B w...

Patients suffering from damaged or diseased fibrocartilages currently have no effective long-term treatment options. Despite their potential, engineered tissues suffer from inferior biomechanical integrity and an inability to integrate in vivo. The present study identifies a treatment regimen (including the biophysical agent chondroitinase-ABC, the biochemical agent TGF-β1, and the collagen cro...

The viability of chondrocytes in press-fit glycerol-preserved osteochondral allografts was compared to that in fresh autografts, after transplantation into load-bearing and non-load-bearing sites in mature sheep stifle joints. We used macroscopic grading, tonometer pen indentation testing, histology, sulfate uptake and viability as determined by confocal-microscopy to assess cartilage condition...

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are an exciting cell source for fibrocartilage engineering. In this study, the effects of differentiation time and cell line, H9 versus BG01V, were examined. Embryoid bodies (EBs) were fibrochondrogenically differentiated for 1, 3, or 6 weeks and then used to engineer tissue constructs that were grown for an additional 4 weeks. Construct matrix was fibrocartil...

Interface tissue engineering is a promising new strategy aimed at the regeneration of tissue interfaces and ultimately enabling the biological fixation of soft tissue grafts used in orthopedic repair and sports medicine. Many ligaments and tendons with direct insertions into subchondral bone exhibit a complex enthesis consisting of several distinct yet continuous regions of soft tissue, noncalc...

Focal chondral defects of the knee, either due to trauma or other conditions such as osteochondritis dissecans, often fail to heal on their own and may be associated with pain, loss of function, disability, and the long-term complication of osteoarthritis. The ideal resurfacing technique would eliminate symptoms, restore normal biomechanics of the knee joint, and prevent the long-term emergence...

Osteochondral lesions of the talus are common injuries following acute and chronic ankle sprains. Numerous surgical treatment strategies have been employed for treating these lesions; arthroscopic bone marrow stimulation is recognized as the first-line technique to provide fibrocartilage infill of the defect site. While the short- and medium-term outcomes of this technique are good, the long-te...

The attachment of dissimilar materials is a major challenge because of the high levels of stress that develop at such interfaces. An effective solution to this problem develops at the attachment of tendon (a compliant "soft tissue") to bone (a stiff "hard tissue"). This tissue, the "enthesis", transitions from tendon to bone through gradations in structure, composition, and mechanical propertie...