We conducted this study to see if, when there’s swelling (bone marrow edema, or BME) surrounding osteochondral allografts (or OCA) on routine post-operative MRI scans 6 months after surgery, this swelling is linked to subsequent osteochondral allograft failure.
Of the 85 patients eligible for the study, 56 patients (30 female, mean age 31.69 ± 11.34 years) had a minimum 2-year follow-up. Patients were divided into two groups: those with a lot of swelling (BME ≥ 10 cm³) and those with less swelling (BME < 10 cm³). All OCA failures of the study cohort were in the BME ≥10 cm³ group, representing 50% of this group, leading us to conclude that host BME with a volume greater than 10 cm³ on 6-month postoperative MRI is predictive of an increased subsequent failure rate after OCA transplantation with a failure rate of 50%.
Read more in Arthroscopy, The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery: Increased Host Bone Marrow Edema on 6-Month Magnetic Resonance Imaging Is a Risk Factor for Osteochondral Allograft Failure
The image is taken from the article.