Preoperative Grades of Osteoarthritis and Meniscus Volume Correlate with Clinical Outcomes of Osteochondral Graft Treatment for Cartilage Defects in the Knee.

Objective: To identify preoperative imaging-based indicators of knee degeneration that correlate with graft failure risk and postoperative clinical outcome scores after osteochondral graft treatment for chondral defects of the knee.

Design: Prospectively collected data from 113 patients (mean age, 34 years; 65% male) treated with mosaicplasty or osteochondral allograft transplantation (OCA) was reviewed. Four different aspects of knee degeneration were examined based on preoperative radiographs or magnetic resonance imaging: (1) Osteoarthritis using the Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grading system, (2) meniscus volume, (3) meniscus quality, and (4) synovitis. Primary outcomes included graft failure, defined by removal/revision of the graft or conversion to arthroplasty, and patient responses to clinical outcome scores.

Results: Forty-one knees (36%) underwent mosaicplasty, and 72 knees (64%) underwent OCA. Mean duration of follow-up was 4.5 years (range, 2-14 years). A preoperative KL grade of ≥3 was correlated with increased failure rates ( = 0.01), lower postoperative International Knee Documentation Committee form (IKDC), Activities of Daily Living of the Knee Outcome Survey (KOS-ADL), and Overall Condition scores ( < 0.01), and decreased improvement in Overall Condition scores ( = 0.01). Within an individual tibiofemoral compartment, a preoperative meniscus volume grade of ≥3 (indicating <50% meniscus volume remaining) was correlated with increased condylar graft failure rates ( < 0.01). Preoperative meniscus quality and synovitis grades were not associated with graft failure rates or clinically meaningful differences in postoperative outcome scores.

Conclusions: Greater preoperative osteoarthritis and meniscus volume loss were correlated with increased graft failure rates after osteochondral graft treatment for chondral defects of the knee.