anterior cruciate ligament

How Close Are Scientists to Regrowing Damaged Limbs?

20180516 Cato Laurencin regrow ACL 2017.JPG

and the most recent thing I came across from last year:

 

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL): Very Close To Human Trials

2017

https://www.rdmag.com/news/2017/11/how-close-are-scientists-regrowing-damaged-limbs

 

Dr. Cato Laurencin’s work in the previously uncharted territory of regrowing bones, tendons and ligaments.

the potential in the polymer technology for regrowing bones.

After successfully modeling how to regrow an ACL — which about 200,000 Americans injure each year — Laurencin has attempted the procedure in rabbits that he says are “running around and doing well.”

It has also been in one human patient who has had the regrown ACL for 3 years.

Laurencin says that he is now working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start human trials.

Laurencin’s work regrowing ACLs was named one of the top scientific discoveries to change the world by National Geographic Magazine

  https://today.uconn.edu/2012/03/national-geographic-cites-work-by-uconns-dr-laurencin-among-%E2%80%98scientific-discoveries-that-changed-the-world%E2%80%99/#

 

so even if you’re a graft patient, looks like it’s only a matter of time before you can have your ACL back.

Regeneration of the anterior cruciate ligament: current strategies in tissue engineering

Which led me to search for this researchers more current work; here’s a publication:

 

Regeneration of the anterior cruciate ligament: Current strategies in tissue engineering

World Journal of Orthopedics

2015

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4303781

 

“The worldwide estimation of young sports players that require surgery following a knee injury lies between 17%-61%. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), a main stabilizing structure of the knee, is one of the most commonly injured ligaments. In the USA alone, around 350,000 reconstructive surgeries of the ACL are performed annually. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the annual costs for the acute care of these injuries are around $6 billion”

20180516 Cato Laurencin regrow ACL 2015 b.jpg
20180516 Cato Laurencin regrow ACL 2015 c.jpg

 

“relatively high failure rates of ACL reconstruction, especially in young and active patients, have been reported for allografts. An incidence of osteoarthritis as high as 50% within 7-14 years after injury and reconstruction of the ACL is still the main drawback of this surgical strategy. The development of osteoarthritis following ACL injury is not fully understood and may be caused not only by the limitation of the current grafts, but also by the initial joint trauma and the trauma caused by the surgeon.”

 

and the most recent thing I came across from last year next post…

Grade 3 sprain explanation

20180516 0 grade III sprain.JPG

I finally come across an article explaining what a grade 3 sprain is.  (May help someone else trying to decipher this)

"About ½ of all injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament occur along with damage to other structures in the knee, such as articular cartilage, meniscus, or other ligaments.

Injured #ligaments are considered “sprains” and are graded on a severity scale.

Grade 1 Sprains

The ligament is mildly damaged in a Grade 1 Sprain.  It has been slightly stretched, but is still able to help keep the knee joint stable.
 

Grade 2 Sprains

Stretches the ligament to the point where it becomes loose.  This is often referred to as a partial tear of the ligament.
 

Grade 3 Sprains

This type of sprain is most commonly referred to as a complete tear of the ligament.  The ligament has been split in 2 pieces, and the knee joint is unstable.

Partial tears of the ACL are rare;

More ACL injuries are complete or near complete #tears."
 

To better understand I pull out my #MRI again and reread (in Oct 6 & 7 posts).

Orthopedics - Intrinsic Healing of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament in an Adolescent

20180430 12 year old regrows ACL fracture.JPG
20180430 12 year old regrows ACL g rupture.JPG

Apr 27-29

The majority of the weekend I spent searching anterior cruciate ligament repairs & learning what an ACL repair is, and the 1st article I found was how a 12 year old boy suffered a complete traumatic rupture of his ACL, which intrinsically healed. 

 

You can find the article

“Intrinsic Healing of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament in an Adolescent”

in The American Journal of Orthopedics, August 2015

https://mdedge-files-live.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/files/s3fs-public/issues/articles/ajo04408e294.pdf

20180430 12 year old regrows ACL h 29 month.JPG
20180430 12 year old regrows ACL intact.JPG
20180430 AJO 1.JPG
20180430 AJO 2.JPG
20180430 AJO 3.JPG