Indianapolis-based orthopedic surgeon Greg Merrell, MD, treated the first U.S. patient in Cartiva's GRIP 2 study, evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the Cartiva Synthetic Cartilage Implant to treat osteoarthritis of the thumb.
Here are five things to know.
1. The multicenter study assesses Cartiva SCI for the treatment of first carpometacarpal joint osteoarthritis at the base of the thumb. Osteoarthritis of the thumb CMC joint affects more than 20 million U.S. adults, including an estimated 25 percent of postmenopausal women. Also known as basal joint arthritis, it causes pain, swelling, instability, deformity, loss of motion and weakness, making it difficult to perform a variety of tasks.
2. Cartiva SCI is a proprietary hydrogel polymer device designed to mimic natural cartilage. It has similar physical properties to natural cartilage, such as its water content, compressive properties and low friction coefficient.
3. Cartiva SCI is implanted in the metacarpal base to replace damaged cartilage without damaging healthy tissue, and is designed to preserve the trapezium bone, which is crucial to hand strength. The implant is currently available in Europe and Canada. In July 2016, Cartiva SCI gained FDA premarket approval for use in arthritis at the base of the big toe.
4. Dr. Merrell performed the surgery earlier this month on a 54-year-old female patient's arthritic right thumb at the Indiana Hand to Shoulder Center in Indianapolis.
5. Dr. Merrell received his medical degree from Yale Medical School in New Haven, Conn., and underwent fellowship training in upper extremity and microvascular surgery from Brown University in Providence, R.I. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Hand Surgery.
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