Repair of large full-thickness cartilage defect by activating endogenous peripheral blood stem cells and autologous periosteum flap transplantation combined with patellofemoral realignment

Minimal-invasive procedure and one-step surgery offer autologous mesenchymal stem cells derived from peripheral blood (PB-MSCs) a promising prospective in the field of cartilage regeneration. We report a case of a 19-year-old male athlete of kickboxing with ICRS grade IV chondral lesions at the 60° region of lateral femoral trochlea, which was repaired by activating endogenous PB-MSCs plus autologous periosteum flap transplantation combined with correcting the patellofemoral malalignment. After a 7.5 year follow-up, the result showed that the patient returned to competitive kickboxing. Second-look under arthroscopy showed a smooth surface at 8 months postoperation. The IKDC 2000 subjective score, Lysholm score and Tegner score were 95, 98 and 9 respectively at the final follow up. CT and MRI evaluations showed a significant improvement compared with those of pre-operation.