## 3 Results  
The study involved 44 patients, from whom 83 samples of knee menisci were obtained. The demographic data is presented in Table 1.  
Macroscopically, all examined menisci displayed signs of degeneration, including cracks, structural disorganization, and fractures. Histological examination of the menisci specimens under a light microscope revealed tissue degeneration in all cases, in both the medial and lateral menisci. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Characteristics**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Total**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Meniscus**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\(p\)**-Value**} \\ \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Medial**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Lateral**} \\ \hline \(n\) & 83 & 41 & 42 \\ \hline Valgus knees & 18 & 9 & 9 \\ \hline Varus knees & 65 & 32 & 33 \\ \hline Female & 29 & 27 & 28 \\ \hline Male & 15 & 14 & 14 \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Age} & 65.56 (range 51–83; SD = 7.14) & 65.14 (range 51–81; SD = 7.15) & 65.97 (range 54–83; SD = 7.19) & \multirow{2}{*}{\(p\) = 0.9134} \\ \hline VAS & 6.83 (range 5–8; SD = 0.90) & 6.85 (range 5–8; SD = 0.90) & 6.80 (range 5–8; SD = 0.91) & \multirow{2}{*}{\(p\) = 0.9819} \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Classical Bonar score} & 8.3976 (range 4–12; SD = 1.5613) & 8.4878 (range 4–11; SD = 1.6751) & 8.3571 (6–12; SD = 1.5113) & \multirow{2}{*}{\(p\) = 0.8657} \\ \hline Modified Bonar score & 6.9398 (3–11; SD = 1.7967) & 6.8049 (3–10; SD = 1.8469) & 7.0714 (3–11; SD = 1.7585) & \multirow{2}{*}{\(p\) = 0.9378} \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Summary of demographic and clinical characteristics of patients. The mean modified Bonar score, which includes the reversed neovascularization variable, was 6.9398 (range 3-11, SD = 1.7967). Similarly, there were no statistically significant differences in the modified-Bonar score assessment between medial and lateral menisci, with scores of 6.8049 and 7.0714, respectively (\(p\) = 0.3620) (Figure 1B). In valgus knees, there were no statistically significant differences in the classical Bonar score (\(p\) = 0.4099) or its modification assessing both menisci (\(p\) = 0.2641) (Figure 1C,D). Specifically, the mean classical Bonar score for the medial meniscus in valgus deformity knees was 8.2, and for the lateral meniscus, it was also 8.2. Regarding the modified Bonar score, the mean score for the medial meniscus was 6.1, and for the lateral meniscus, it was 6.7. Similarly, in the varus deformity group, no statistically significant differences were observed in the Bonar score (\(p\) = 0.2868) or its modification assessing both menisci (\(p\) = 0.4907) (Figure 1E,F). Specifically, the mean classical Bonar score for the medial meniscus in varus deformity knees was 8.5, and for the lateral meniscus, it was 8.3. Regarding the modified Bonar score, the mean score for the medial meniscus was 7, and for the lateral meniscus, it was 7.1 (\(p\) = 0.4907). As shown in Figure 2A, we identified a relationship between chondrocyte morphology and gender in excised lateral menisci (\(p\) = 0.0129). Specifically, males presented higher scores for altered chondrocyte morphology. However, there was no statistically significant difference between chondrocyte morphology and gender in the medial meniscus (\(p\) = 0.4598) (Figure 2D). Moreover, a positive correlation was observed between age and chondrocyte morphology in the lateral meniscus (\(p\) = 0.03622; Spearman r = 0.2801) (Figure 2B) but there was none for the medial meniscus (\(p\) = 0.4380) (Figure 2E). No significant correlations were found between VAS score and chondrocyte morphology in either the medial or lateral meniscus (Figure 2C,F). Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences in gender distribution when comparing the medial meniscus groups to the lateral meniscus groups (Figure 2G-I). Figure 1: Summarized statistical analysis based on the Bonar score for the medial and lateral menisci.