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Posterior Cruciate Mechanoreceptors in Osteoarthritic and Cruciate-retaining TKA Retrievals: A Pilot Study

  • Symposium: Retrieval Studies
  • Published:
Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research®

Abstract

Background

Although normal cruciate ligaments and those in patients with osteoarthritic (OA) knees contain mechanoreceptors, it is unclear whether they are present after functioning in a cruciate-retaining total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Questions/purposes

We therefore determined if the areas occupied by mechanoreceptors in the human posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) are similar in patients with osteoarthritis and in patients who have had TKA with retention of the PCL.

Methods

We identified five cruciate-retaining TKA specimens from a retrieval program and obtained five PCLs during cruciate-sacrificing TKA from patients with OA; the retrieved specimens had been in place 5 to 12 years. The whole en bloc PCL specimens were harvested for the study. These specimens were then sectioned to a thickness of 8 μm and mounted on microscope slides. Two transverse cross-sections from the distal third from each specimen 100 μm apart were then subjected to immunohistochemistry with neurofilament protein (NFP) and S-100 protein.

Results

All five PCL specimens in each group revealed multiple areas of positive stained elements with both S-100 protein and NFP immunohistochemical staining. Morphologically, these elements appear to correspond to Pacinilike, Golgilike, and fusiform types of mechanoreceptors. We observed no difference in positive staining mechanoreceptor elements as a percentage of area in the osteoarthritis and TKA groups.

Conclusion

Mechanoreceptors appear to occupy similar areas before and after implantation of a TKA.

Clinical Relevance

If mechanoreceptors continue to function after cruciate-retaining TKA, then it may continue to participate in proprioception of the knee after TKA.

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Acknowledgments

We thank John L. Williams, PhD, and David Komatsu, PhD, for their aid in specimen acquisition and histologic method validation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. InMotion Orthopaedic Research Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Kelly Zhang BS

  2. Campbell Clinic Orthopaedics, University of Tennessee, 1458 West Poplar Avenue, Suite 100, Memphis, TN, 38017, USA

    William M. Mihalko MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Kelly Zhang BS
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  2. William M. Mihalko MD, PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to William M. Mihalko MD, PhD.

Additional information

The study was supported by a research grant from the Arthritis Foundation. One or more of the authors (WMM) has received funding from Corin, Inc and Aesculap Inc. One of the authors (WMM) serves as a consultant and receives royalties from Aesculap, Inc and royalties from Elsevier Inc.

All ICMJE Conflict of Interest Forms for authors and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research editors and board members are on file with the publication and can be viewed on request.

Each author certifies that his or her institution approved the human protocol for this investigation, that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research, and that informed consent for participation in the study was obtained.

This work was performed at the InMotion Orthopaedic Research Laboratory and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Memphis, TN, USA.

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Zhang, K., Mihalko, W.M. Posterior Cruciate Mechanoreceptors in Osteoarthritic and Cruciate-retaining TKA Retrievals: A Pilot Study. Clin Orthop Relat Res 470, 1855–1859 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-011-2120-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-011-2120-7

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