Knee Pain and Treatment Options: Check Out MACI®

Each year 12 million people visit their doctor because of knee pain – half of them with damage to their knee cartilage.

Dr. Banffy, a sports medicine physician, explains that when the cartilage becomes damaged or deteriorates, it limits the knee’s normal movement and can cause significant pain. When knee cartilage is damaged, patients may experience pain, swelling, clicking, and locking. For Courtney, her pain started to not only affect her love of running, but also her job as a pediatric resident.

There are several surgical techniques available for treating damaged knee cartilage. Used for more than 20 years, Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI) has been proven to provide long-lasting pain relief and help patients regain knee function.

MACI® is a third generation ACI, offering a simpler way to deliver cells and is the only FDA approved treatment option that regrows a patient’s own cartilage cells.

Learn how Dr. Banffy uses MACI® on his patients and how Courtney got back on her feet after her MACI® procedure.

INDICATION
MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is made up of your own (autologous) cells that are expanded and placed onto a film that is implanted into the area of the cartilage damage and absorbed back into your own tissue.
MACI is used for the repair of symptomatic cartilage damage of the adult knee.
The amount of MACI applied depends on the size of the cartilage damage. The MACI film is trimmed by your surgeon to match the size and shape of the damage, to ensure the damaged area is completely covered.

Limitations of Use
It is not known whether MACI is effective in joints other than the knee.
It is not known whether MACI is safe or effective in patients over the age of 55 years.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
MACI should not be used if you:
• are allergic to antibiotics such as gentamicin, or materials that come from cow, pig, or ox;
• have severe osteoarthritis of the knee, other severe inflammatory conditions, infections or inflammation in the bone joint and other surrounding tissue, or blood clotting conditions;
• have had knee surgery in the past 6 months, not including surgery for obtaining a cartilage biopsy or a surgical procedure to prepare your knee for a MACI implant;
• or cannot follow a doctor-prescribed rehabilitation program after your surgery
Consult your doctor if you have cancer in the area of the cartilage biopsy or implant as the safety of MACI is not known in those cases.

Conditions that existed before your surgery, including meniscus tears, joint or ligament instability, or alignment problems should be evaluated and treated before or at the same time as the MACI implant.

MACI is not recommended if you are pregnant.

MACI has not been studied in patients younger than 18 or over 55 years of age.

Common side effects include joint pain, tendonitis, back pain, joint swelling, and joint effusion.

More serious side effects include joint pain, cartilage or meniscus injury, treatment failure, and osteoarthritis.

Please see Full Prescribing Information for more information.

See Indication, Important Safety Information and Prescribing Information on MACI.com.