Nature of predominant tissue | Structural characteristics | Freedom from cellular changes of degeneration | Freedom from degenerative changes in adjacent cartilage | Immunohistochemistry labeling | Overall assessment | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tissue morphology (including use of polarized light) | Safranin-O staining of the matrix | Surface regularity | Structural integrity | Thickness | Bonding to the adjacent cartilage | Basal integration | Formation of a tidemark | Subchondral bone abnormalities/marrow fibrosis | Cancellous bone regeneration | Abnormal calcification/ossification (cartilage tissue) | Hypocellularity | Chondrocyte clustering | |||
Fibrous tissue or bone : 0 | None: 0 | Severe disruption, including fibrillation: 0 | Severe disintegration: 0 | 0–50 % of normal cartilage: 0 | Not bonded: 0 | No basal integration: 0 | Absence of visible interface: 0 | Irregular subchondral plate, fracture, sclerosis, intense remodeling: 0 | Slight: 1 | No ectopic change: 0 | Severe hypocellularity: 0 | 25–100 % of the cells: 0 | Severe hypocellularity, poor or no staining: 0 | -: No labeling | Fibrous tissue: 0 |
Incompletely differentiated mesenchyme: 2 | Slight: 1 | Fissures 25–100 % of the thickness : 1 | Slight disruption, including cysts: 1 | 50–100 % of normal cartilage: 1 | Bonded at one end, or partially at both ends: 1 | Partial integration: 2 | Slight to moderate calcification front/tidemark: 2 | Absence of abnormality: 3 | Moderate (with residual fibrous tissue/cyst): 2 | Presence of changes: 3 | Moderate hypocellularity: 1 | <25 % of the cells: 1 | Mild or moderate hypocellularity, slight staining: 1 | 1: Slight labeling | Fibrocartilage tissue: 2 |
Hyaline articular cartilage: 4 | Moderate: 2 | Superficial horizontal lamination : 2 | Normal: 2 | 100 % of normal adjacent cartilage: 2 | Bonded at both ends of graft : 2 | Full integration: 4 | A single tidemark (signs of maturation): 3 | / | Marked (limited residual fibrocartilage tissue): 3 | / | Slight hypocellularity: 2 | No clusters: 2 | Normal cellularity, mild clusters, moderate staining: 2 | 2: Moderate labeling | Articular and hyaline cartilage tissue: 4 |
/ | Normal or nearly normal: 3 | Smooth and intact: 3 | / | / | / | / | / | / | Complete: 4 | / | Normal cellularity: 3 | / | Normal cellularity, no clusters, normal staining: 3 | 3: Marked labeling | / |