Table 5.

Overview of human studies evaluating stem cell enhancement of rotator cuff repair.

Study	Study type	Sample size	Follow-up	Results and conclusions
Gomes et al.97	Cohort study	n = 14	12-month minimum	Rotator cuffs repaired with BMSC injections at the repair borders showed MRI preservation in 14/14 (100%) cases at 12 months. UCLA shoulder scores significantly improved at 12 months and remained stable in 13/14 (93%) patients at 24 months.
Hernigou et al.98	Case–control study	n = 90	10 years	BMSC-treated repairs healed two months faster than controls via MRI and US evaluation. All treatment repairs fully healed at six months versus 30/45 (67%) in the control group. Long-term maintenance of tendon integrity of 39/45 (87%) in the treatment group versus 44% in the control group (p < 0.05).

BMSC: bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell; MRI: magnetic resonance imaging; UCLA: University of California at Los Angeles; US: ultrasound.