Doctors have learned how to treat knees using a patient's own cells
A unique technology for restoring knee joints affected by osteoarthritis has been launched at Sechenov University. Doctors transplant cartilage cells taken from the patient himself into the diseased knee. For the first time this approach was developed and implemented by German specialists, and until now it was available only in some clinics in Europe.
The treatment looks like this: cartilage cells are taken from the patient, cultured in the laboratory, then the biomedical cell product is returned to the person - a liquid "implant" is injected with a syringe into the defect area of the knee joint. The new method restores cartilage tissue, stops the destruction of the joint, and therefore prevents the threat of total joint replacement and disability.
The demand for such treatment is obvious: according to the estimates of the Russian Ministry of Health, among people over 60 gonarthrosis suffers almost every third (30%).
Scientists hope that in the future this same method will be used to treat other joints - hip, ankle and shoulder.
"Transplantation of biomedical cellular product is a technique of using cultured human cells in regenerative medicine - in this case, these are cartilage cells," the director of the clinic of traumatology, orthopedics and joint pathology of UKB №1, head of the department of traumatology, orthopedics and catastrophic surgery of the Institute of Clinical Medicine named after N.V. Sklifosov told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. N.V. Sklifosovsky Institute of Clinical Medicine of Sechenov University Alexey Lychagin. - The technique is designed for patients aged 18-50 years, with isolated single damage of III-IV degree according to the international classification of cartilage damage ICRS. It will also help young patients diagnosed with dissecting osteochondritis.
The technology is still unique for our country. Its effectiveness and safety have been confirmed by clinical trials conducted in several clinics in the country," Sechenov University specified.
"Our industrial partner, the company "Generium", obtained a license for the production of biomedical cellular products (BMCP), then we successfully conducted clinical trials of the new method. Now we are introducing this method into widespread practice - we can hospitalize patients and replace knee joint cartilage defects of various sizes with autologous BMSCP. The treatment stops the progression of cartilage destruction and can save from a rather traumatic joint replacement surgery," said Prof. Lychagin.
"We are developing and helping to introduce the most advanced drug and cell therapy technologies into real medical practice. BMKP is the first biomedical cell product registered in Russia that provides a radically improved approach to knee joint cartilage repair. Thanks to this, patients will receive highly effective therapy," explained Dmitry Kudlai, Vice President of Generium, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In addition, BICP treatment can be used at an earlier stage of joint disease - playing a preventive role and preventing various pathological changes in the entire musculoskeletal system, the expert emphasized.
How the treatment works:
1. If the patient meets the criteria for the new method, the first hospitalization is carried out. The patient is examined, he performs arthroscopy of the knee joint, during which doctors take bone and cartilage tissue samples.
2. With the help of special biological logistics, the selected cartilage cells are transported to the laboratory "Generium", where they are cultured, multiplied and made into BMSCs.
3. When the product is ready, the patient is invited back to the clinic and the transplantation of the cells into the cartilage defect is performed. Both times, the person spends no more than three days in the hospital.
4. After the operation, the patient must undergo a course of rehabilitation treatment and for at least another year regularly come to doctors' examinations and examinations (in particular, MRI) for control.
The prospects for the new method are broad: after organizing logistics and training doctors, this technology can be introduced in large regional medical centers.