Saving Shoulders: Penn Orthopaedic Surgeons
at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center First in Nation
to Perform a Shoulder Joint Cartilage Implant
Brian
Sennet, MD, Chief of Sports Medicine, UPHS,
assisted by Gerald Williams, MD, Chief, Orthopaedic Surgery,
Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, performed the
nation's first shoulder joint cartilage implant
on a 22-year-old woman. The woman had sustained
serious shoulder joint cartilage damage in an
automobile accident.
Once damaged, joint cartilage does not normally
regenerate in the body. In addition to causing
pain and restricted mobility, injuries to joint
cartilage over time may lead to debilitating arthritis
or, eventually, to a need for a total shoulder
joint replacement.
"In older patients, we would typically replace
the damaged joint with metal and plastic,"
said Dr. Williams. "That doesn't work as
well in younger patients with more mobility."
Sennet and Williams opted instead for cartilage
replacement surgery. The procedure, using a patient's
own healthy cartilage cells, has been proven highly
effective in knee surgery. Two months before the
operation, a biopsy was performed to harvest of
sample of the young woman's healthy cartilage.
From this sample, millions of new cartilage cells
were grown at a specialized lab.
During the surgery, the surgeons carefully removed
damaged tissue and prepared an area for the introduction
of the cultured cells. A small piece of tissue
was taken from the patient's shin and sutured
over the damaged area to hold the new cells in
place. The cultured cells were then implanted
under the patch. The cells begin to adhere to
the bone within 24 hours, and they will continue
to multiply, hardening and creating a new, stronger
joint for the patient.
"The procedure had never been done before
in a shoulder, but indications were good that
we could provide her with new healthy cartilage
to last the rest of her lifetime," said Dr.
Sennet.
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