What is cartilage repair ?
The surgical therapies currently implemented are diverse in nature. But, as yet, no truly effective strategy has been elaborated. The most promising approaches involve the introduction of a defect-filling matrix containing either cartilage precursor cells or signalling substances that will induce their local recruitment. The underlying principle of these strategies is that the cartilage precursor cells (transplanted or locally recruited) will differentiate into cartilage-producing chondrocytes. Most of these cartilage-engineering strategies are still at an experimental stage of development; they are not yet ripe for clinical application.
