POSTER ABSTRACTS - ISAKOS

Granulation tissue also covered the superficial
areas of the defects in the Group C. However, the
gelatin in the deep areas contained more cells
than those observed in the Group B, and most of
the cells in the Group C defects were round in
shape. We also observed a small volume of
hyaline cartilage at the periphery of the defects.
Week Four: Irregular connective tissue containing
spindle-shaped cells had filled the defects in the
Group B, while a small volume of hyaline cartilage
was visible at the periphery of the defects. In
contrast, hyaline cartilage containing round,
actively-proliferating cells filled the defects in the
Group C. Week Twelve: In the Group B, reparative
tissue comprising connective tissue and hyaline
cartilage with randomly oriented collagen fibers
filled the defects and the border between the
reparative tissue and the normal meniscal tissue
remained clearly identified. In the Group C, the
reparative tissue mostly contained parallel
circumferential collagen fibers (like fibrous
cartilage), and the border between the reparative
fibrous cartilage and the normal meniscal tissue
could hardly be identified. Week Twenty-Four: The
reparative tissue primarily contained collagen
fibers in the Group B. In contrast, in the Group C,
the reparative fibrous cartilage had grown in
thickness and the border between the reparative
tissue and the normal adjacent meniscal tissue
had become more undistinguishable than at the
prior time point.
Mechanical analysis using the tactile sensor: We
used a tactile sensor (AXIOM Co., Ltd.,
Fukushima, JAPAN) to evaluate mechanical
properties of the repaired tissues at each time
period. The measured stiffness of the repaired
tissues in the Group C exceeded that in the Group
B. Two factorial ANOVA showed that both the
presence of bFGF and the time after surgery were
significant factors for the results of the
mechanical testing (p=0.05). A post hoc test
indicated a significant difference in mechanical
properties of the reparative tissue between the
Groups B and C at the 12-week time point
(p