Re-arthroscopic Findings 18 Years After Osteochondral Autologous Transplantation for Cartilage Lesion in the Knee: A Case Report.

Introduction: Despite the good clinical outcomes of osteochondral autograft transplantation (OAT), reports of re-arthroscopic findings after OAT have been limited to short-term, and there are no reports of findings after long-term follow-up. This is the first report that describes re-arthroscopic findings long-term after OAT.

Case report: A male patient underwent OAT on the lateral femoral condyle (LFC) of the knee and lateral meniscus (LM) repair at the age of 45. Eighty years after the primary surgery, he underwent re-arthroscopy because of cartilage injury on the medial femoral condyle (MFC) and LM tear. The re-arthroscopic findings showed the retained OAT plugs on LFC and severe damage of LM. After OAT on the LFC and meniscectomy of LM was performed, his knee symptoms improved, so the LFC that had undergone OAT 18 years previously was considered to be on a good clinical course.

Conclusion: OAT plugs were retained at the long-term follow-up while the repaired LM was severely damaged. The structural robustness of OAT was thought to be responsible for good long-term clinical outcomes.