[Cartilage joint transplantation (author's transl)].

The present day knowledge and the practical use of cartilage joint transplantation in the knee joint are reviewed. Apart from the refixation of cartilage-bone and pure cartilage fragments, autologous transplantation has not fulfilled the expectation anticipated from animal experiments. Apart from the question of the source of the graft, the final results depends primarily on the problems of the functional adjustment of the grafted cartilage in its new position and its nutrition. Homologous cartilagenous grafting can give extraordinarily good clinical results but they are not equal to those of a truely successful graft. In spite of this, future research in cartilage joint transplantation will be concentrated on homologous grafting.