Preliminary Evaluation of Potential Disease Modification by Hylan G-F 20 (Synvisc®) Using dGEMRIC

The objective of the present study was to utilize delayed Gadolinium Enhanced MRI of Cartilage (dGEMRIC), as a reflection of cartilage matrix integrity, to evaluate the effects of a specific hyaluronan, hylan G-F 20 (SYNVISC®; Genzyme Biosurgery, Cambridge, MA) in OA patients over the course of 6 months, and to utilize these data to determine effect size and power calculations for future studies. An open-label, single-blind exploratory study of patients having knee OA (Trail registration: NCT00949494) was performed in thirty subjects (20 active, intra-articular injections (3, week apart) with hylan G-F 20; 10 control). dGEMRIC data was obtained at baseline, 3 and 6 months. No changes were measurable with hylan administration under the clinical and imaging conditions utilized in the current study. The lack of response in the current study may be because the subjects had a relatively advanced stage of disease with respect to cartilage integrity.