Pathogenesis: It is one of the knee pathologies that are seen in adulthood. It occurs after a sudden, severe trauma or repeating coercive movements. From simple degeneration of joint cartilage to severe cartilage loss which reaches to subchondral bone, cartilage loss can be in various stages. Disintegration of the cartilage from the bone is the most severe form, and it is called as osteochondritis dissecans (joint mouse).

Clinical Status: Effusion (knee swelling), recurring pain and reduction in daily activities are the most common complaints.

Diagnosis: There is no finding in x-ray at the primary stages of the pathology; as the disease progress, if there is cartilage loss and joint mouse in x-ray, the site of the pathology can be seen easily. However, definitive diagnosis can be made with MRI.

Treatment: For the treatment of simple cartilage damage, hyaluronic acid, which strengthens the cartilage and increase the lubricity of the joint, can be injected. Because it decreases synovial inflammation, these injections may be repeated every 3 months. However, healing period of these injections doesn’t surpass 1 year even though it is different for every patient. For more severe cartilage loss, different methods such as cartilage surface drilling (microfracture), cartilage transplantation (mosaicplasty) and cartilage cell culture transplantation (autologous chondrocyte implantation) can be used according to the degree of cartilage loss. Because those methods are performed arthroscopically, they impair the patients less. As a result, patients can return to their daily activities faster.