Xi'an, China – After six months of preparation, Suzhou MicroPort OrthoRecon Co., Ltd. ("MicroPort® OrthoRecon"), a subsidiary of Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co., Ltd. ("MicroPort®"), officially launched the Postmarket Clinical Follow-up Program of Medial-Pivot Knee in a kick-off meeting held in Xi'an from February 24 to February 25. The program is initiated by Professor Kunzheng Wang, Chairman-elect of Chinese Orthopaedic Association and Director of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, and will be carried out in 18 leading hospitals in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.
This Postmarket Clinical Follow-up Program is designed to evaluate the postoperative recovery of Asian patients, mostly Chinese patients, who was implanted Medial-Pivot Knee, to find out the best solutions in terms of patient satisfaction and function recovery. The participating hospitals will assess the outcome of the Medial-Pivot Knee by gait analysis, muscle strength test and patient satisfaction rating. Professor Kunzheng Wang said:" We are glad that MicroPort® OrthoRecon takes the initiative to demonstrate the unique advantages of its product in the field of joint arthroplasty postoperative recovery. Meanwhile, we hope the participating hospitals could work together to deliver the first clinical follow-up report of Medial-Pivot Knee on Chinese patients."
With the advancement of China's joint arthroplasty techniques, the number of patients receiving total knee arthroplasty ("TKA") has been growing at a rate of 15% annually. TKA has been regarded as one of the most successful surgeries since the 20th century and most of the knee prostheses are proven to have good clinical survivorship. However, it has been reported that approximately 20% of patients are not satisfied with the outcome of their TKA as a result of residual pain and functional issues. Thus, it has become the main focus of the joint prosthesis field on how to improve function and drive patient satisfaction.
In the kick-off meeting, several professionals delivered keynote speeches. Professor You Wang of Shanghai Renji Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University made a presentation on "the Value of Applying Medial-Pivot Knee to Chinese Patients." Professor Yunsu Chen of Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University explained "the Design Concept of Medial-Pivot Knee" after introducing knee biomechanics. Professor Chun-Hoi Yan, Council Member of Hong Kong Orthopaedic Association ("HKOA"), Chairman of Adult Joint Recon of HKOA and a senior orthopedic surgeon of Queen Mary Hospital of the University of Hong Kong, shared his rich experience in using the second-generation total knee replacement system EVOLUTION® Medial-Pivot Knee System ("EVOLUTION®"). Professor Yan has performed over 100 EVOLUTION® procedures since 2015. His explanation was well received by experts in attendance. In the end, Professor Lin Guo of Southwest Hospital of Third Military Medical University showed the muscle strength recovery and life quality of patients implanted EVOLUTION® by interpreting the gait analysis data, which later triggered a hot discussion on how to determine the outcome of a TKA procedure.
According to a study evaluating long-term clinical and radiographic outcomes of the Medial-Pivot Knee System (including the first-generation ADVANCE® Total Knee Arthroplasty System and the second-generation EVOLUTION®), MicroPort®'s Medial-Pivot Knee System has excellent clinical outcomes for both satisfaction (95%) and survivorship (98.8%) at 17 years with patients noting a great sense of stability and comfort during regular activities.
As one of the well-known knee systems in the world, EVOLUTION® has gained high market recognition after it was launched in the US in 2010, later sold to Europe and Japan, and entered the Chinese mainland market and the Hong Kong market in 2015. Simon Chen, Executive General Manager of MicroPort® OrthoRecon, said:" During the period of the follow-up program, we will launch a series of academic salon activities to provide a platform for TKA experts to exchange ideas and discuss complex cases. We hope these activities would help promote the development of China's joint arthroplasty industry and thereby to improve patient's life quality. "