Rheumatology: Current Research
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-1149 (Printed)
+44-77-2385-9429
ISSN: 2161-1149 (Printed)
+44-77-2385-9429
Lukas Negrin
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Rheumatology & Orthopedics
A t present microfracture has become the treatment of choice for patients with full-thickness knee cartilage defects.Our meta- analysis of five controlledstudies provided 22 overall KOOS points as a rough estimate for the mean expected treatment effect.By comparing this homogenous patient population to 26 heterogeneouspatients who had been treated at our Level I trauma center we surprisingly calculated a very high correlation between the score values, indicating similar postoperative outcome in both groups. Due to the fact that our patients were evaluated by several clinical scores we were able to provide conversion formulas by performing regression analysis. Using these formulas our meta-analysis of 16 controlled and non-controlled studies computed an expectable mean treatment effect of 27 Lysholm points and identified age as an outcome predictor. Surprisingly, subgroup analysis revealed a significantly higher treatment effect for patients older than 38 years and meta-regression hypothesized a direct correlation between age and treatment effect. Finally, we compared microfracture to ACI in order to explore if the more expensive method is justified due to better effectiveness. For a time period of one to five years postoperatively, our meta-analyses of five patient populations computed a varying, not continuously increasing superiority of ACI which has to be considered statistically and clinically significant. As it only corresponds to minimal perceptible clinical improvement we may not conclude that ACI should be strictly preferred to microfracture in any case. Decision-making still has to take patient goals, physical demands as well as patient- and defect-specific factors into consideration.
Lukas Leopold Negrin enrolled human medicine at the Medical University of Vienna in 2003 where he graduated in 2009. He started as a trauma surgery resident at the Medical University of Vienna soon after, where he still works today, being involved in education and training of the students. Even during his studies LL Negrin gained practical experience by volunteering in the USA and Europe and he dedicated himself to research, focusing on cartilage repair, acetabular fractures, pulmonary complications of polytraumatized patients and ruptures of the knee extensor mechanism. His work is documented in numerous publications and congress presentations