Viability of Pathologic Cartilage Fragments as a Source for Autologous Chondrocyte Cultures.

Objective: To study if a culture of chondrocytes can be obtained from pathologic hyaline cartilage (PHC) fragments.

Design: Twenty-five men and 9 women with osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) in 11 cases, arthrosis in 13 patients, and trauma in the remaining 10 cases were included. The PHC fragments and a small sample of the next healthy cartilage were extracted by arthroscopy.