Fig. 7.
Clinical trial results. A. Kaplan-Meier survival curve of operated femoral heads. B. Kaplan-Meier survival curves of operated femoral heads in ARCO stage Ⅱ or Ⅲ. C. The preoperative and postoperative HHSs of operated hips in ARCO stage Ⅱ or Ⅲ. D. A patient with ARCO stage Ⅲ ANFH caused by corticosteroid application. X-ray films show the degradation of the implanted β-TCP scaffold and the substitute of newly formed bone. Four years after surgery, the necrotic femoral head was completely recovered. The white arrows indicate the necrotic area in femoral head. The yellow arrows indicate that the gap between implanted β-TCP rod and host bone was gradually healed. E. DCE-MRI examination comparing necrotic and normal femoral head. On the left is the delineation of the region of interest (ROI) and the cloud diagram of Ktrans values, in which the green circle indicates a necrotic femoral head in ARCO stage Ⅱ, and the yellow circle indicates a normal femoral head. On the right are the SI-time curves of ROIs. AIF indicates the arterial input function. F. Ktrans values of normal and necrotic femoral heads in ARCO stages Ⅱ and Ⅲ. G. iAUC values of normal and necrotic femoral heads in ARCO stages Ⅱ and Ⅲ. H. Blood perfusions in different zones of the necrotic femoral head. Ⅰ, complete necrosis with no blood perfusion; Ⅱ, repair zone with high perfusion; Ⅲ, compensatory zone with relatively high perfusion; and Ⅳ, normal bone. I. Ktrans and iAUC of different zones in the necrotic femoral head; J. DCE-MRI examination after surgery. The left and right femoral head were nine and three months postoperatively, respectively. K. Changes in Ktrans values after implantation of the β-TCP system. L. Changes of iAUC values after implantation of the β-TCP system. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.