Cell survival after transplantation of fresh meniscal allografts

Abstract

The results of this study demonstrate that viable cells in medial meniscal allografts transplanted from one animal to another do not survive. Host cells rapidly repopulate the transplanted meniscus. There is no evidence these new cells will maintain on a long-term basis the extracellular matrix of the meniscus. The evidence in this paper, that the fibrochondrocytes do not survive transplantation, suggests further justification is necessary for using grafts with living cells. Allografts with living cells have an increased expense, more complicated surgical logistics, and have a higher potential risk of disease transmission.