BWFH patient is first in New England enrolled in worldwide knee cartilage study

Christian Lattermann, MD, is Chief of the Sports Medicine Service and Director of the Cartilage Repair Center in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery for Brigham Health. He is also the first surgeon in New England to enroll a patient in CartiHeal’s FDA – IDE study in a procedure performed here at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. 

Dr. Lattermann is one of 15 principal investigators in the United States who are participating in the randomized, controlled study of the Agili-C implant by CartiHeal. The Agili-C is designed to regenerate articular cartilage and its underlying subchondral bone in patients with painful cartilage defects in the knee. Here at BWFH, Dr. Lattermann implanted the device into the knee of a 36-year-old patient with a painful cartilage defect.

“The Agili-C implant is a very interesting device and the study is unique in that we can treat multiple cartilage defects in knees with and without osteoarthritis,” Dr. Lattermann says. “If its efficacy is proved, this device could be life-changing for patients who currently lack an optimal treatment option for their cartilage problem.”

In addition to Dr. Lattermann’s patient, the IDE study has more than 170 patients enrolled in the United States, Europe and Israel.