REPAIR OF OSTEOCHONDRAL DEFECTS WITH GRAFTS OF CULTURED CHONDROCYTES - COMPARISON OF ALLOGRAFTS AND ISOGRAFTS

Isogeneic and allogeneic chondrocytes cultured in collagen gel were tr ansplanted into osteochondral defects in knee joints of inbred strains of rats. At 12 weeks, all eight isografted defects had healed success fully, compared with only four of eight allografted defects (p < 0.05) . At 26 and 52 weeks, all defects except one had healed successfully a nd there was no significant difference in the success rate between the isografted and allografted groups. Control defects that had been impl anted with only collagen gel did not heal successfully.