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J Knee Surg 2009; 22(2): 99-105
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1247732
Original Article

© 2009 Thieme Medical Publishers

The Humeral Head as a Potential Donor Source for Osteochondral Allograft Transfer to the Knee

Michael V. Birman1 , Dan T. Le2 , Sabir K. Ismaily3 , Bruce S. Miller1
  • 1The Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich
  • 2Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex
  • 3The Institute of Orthopedic Research and Education, Houston, Tex
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Publication History

Publication Date:
14 January 2010 (online)

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ABSTRACT

This study aimed to determine whether osteochondral allograft plugs from the humeral head are a good topographic match to recipient sites on the femoral condyle. If so, the donor pool for allograft osteochondral transplantation to the knee may increase.

Simulated osteochondral grafts of 1-cm, 1.5-cm, and 2-cm diameters were taken from the surface map of the humeral heads and superimposed and optimized on recipient sites of identical size on the femoral condyles. Primary measurement criteria included contour mismatch and circumferential step-off. These measurements increased with donor plug size. For the 1-cm and 1.5-cm plugs, the lowest mean mismatch (0.068 mm and 0.110 mm, respectively) and step-off (0.057 mm and 0.154 mm, respectively) occurred at the 30° medial position. For the 2-cm plugs, the lowest mean mismatch (0.183 mm) and step-off (0.227 mm) occurred at the 60° lateral position.

Although 1-cm osteochondral plugs were a good topographic match to the recipient sites, the 2-cm plugs had a mismatch approaching 0.5 mm, an offset with a demonstrated peak contact pressure >40% higher than normal. The topographic match of the humeral head suggests it is a potential donor source for osteochondral allograft transfer to the distal femur.

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