Malaga hospital performs two pioneering knee cartilage transplants from deceased donors in one month
The city hospital is one of the first in Spain to use this technique, which is performed very exceptionally for the most extensive injuries
The Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria in Malaga, formerly known as the Clínico, has performed two knee cartilage transplants from deceased donors in just one month. This procedure, called fresh osteochondral allograft transplants or heterologous transplants of the femoral condyle, is performed "with extreme exceptionality", making the Malaga hospital one of the pioneering centres.
"We have performed two pioneering interventions on extensive osteochondral lesions using fresh allografts from deceased donors," says Dr Gómez Palomo. The traumatologist explains that it is "a highly complex technique that requires maximum surgical and logistical coordination".
The surgery aims to correct lesions of the knee cartilage, which cause "very sharp and severe pain". Such wounds might be the result of a blow or a condition known as osteochondritis dissecans. The procedure is only applicable in cases where the lesions measure more than 10 square centimetres.
The cartilage transplanted to the patient comes from tissue banks in Barcelona and Aragón. "If the patient is a 30-year-old girl, the cartilage cannot come from a 60-year-old donor: it has to be a young, living cartilage, in line with the dimensions of the patient," experts say.
'It is surgery of tremendous exceptionality'
The treatment of the cartilage is very costly and "only centres with a great deal of experience in cartilage surgery can carry it out". Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria is one of the pioneering centres in this complex technique in Andalucía and Spain.
Dr Gómez Palomo also highlights that it "is the Andalusian reference hospital for autologous chondrocyte transplantation" - a surgery concerning less extensive but equally painful lesions. The centre for transfusion, tissue and cell of Malaga (CTTC) is the one performing the cell treatment, while Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria is where the surgery takes place. All Andalusian public and some private hospitals send patients with cartilage lesions to the knee unit at the Clínico.
The cultivation of the cartilage sample takes about three weeks. If the technical manager of the expansion and cell therapy unit - Dr Cristina Antúnez - gives the green light, the team at Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoriaprepares for the surgery.
According to Dr Gómez Palomo, the injuries they treat are very painful, "hinder mobility and reduce quality of life". Luckily, the technique, which has been used more than 60 times in recent years, has a success rate of over 90%, allowing patients to return to work and sport. The patients are usually no older than 40 or 45 years of age.
