Cartilage

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Cartilage is a type of connective tissue that does not commonly come across the pathologist's desk.

It comes in three flavours:[1][2]

  1. Hyaline cartilage, e.g. trachea.
  2. Fibrocartilage, e.g. intervertebral disc.
  3. Elastic cartilage, e.g. epiglottis.

General

Features of cartilage:[3]

  • Avascular.
  • Extracellular matrix with bluish tinge.
  • Round cells.

Hyaline cartilage

Features:[4]

  • Chondrocytes within small pockets (lacunae) of extracellular matrix.
    • Chondrocytes:
      • Spherical nucleus.
      • Prominent nucleolus.
      • Clear cytoplasm.
    • Extracellular matrix:
      • Blue-white appearance on H&E stain -- key feature.

Image:

Tumours

Tumours of cartilage are dealt with in the article chondro-osseous tumours together with bone tumours.

Specific diagnoses

Synovial chondromatosis

  • AKA synovial osteochondromatosis.

General

  • Benign.
    • Malignant transformation rare <5%.[5]
  • Classically location: knee.[5]

Radiology

  • Intraarticular calcifications.

Microscopic

Features:[5]

  • Hyaline cartilage +/- lobular surface.
    • May have lacunae with binucleate cells.
  • +/-Synovial hyperplasia - ribbon like tissue with an epithelium that has eosinophilic cytoplasm.
  • Bone.

Images:


See also

References

  1. Young, Barbara; Lowe, James S.; Stevens, Alan; Heath, John W.; Deakin, Philip J. (2000). Wheaters Functional Histology (4th ed.). Churchill Livingstone. pp. 173-5. ISBN 978-0004881973.
  2. URL: http://www.lab.anhb.uwa.edu.au/mb140/CorePages/Cartilage/Cartil.htm. Accessed on: 2 January 2011.
  3. Cormack, David H. (2001). Essential Histology (2nd ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 178-9. ISBN 978-0781716680.
  4. Cormack, David H. (2001). Essential Histology (2nd ed.). Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. pp. 178. ISBN 978-0781716680.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Murphey, MD.; Vidal, JA.; Fanburg-Smith, JC.; Gajewski, DA.. "Imaging of synovial chondromatosis with radiologic-pathologic correlation.". Radiographics 27 (5): 1465-88. doi:10.1148/rg.275075116. PMID 17848703.