Cartilage Health Dictionary

A type of connective tissue made up of varying membrane amounts of the gellike substance collagen. Cartilage forms

Bone an important structural component of various parts of the skeletal system, inSynovial cluding the joints. fluid There are 3 main Hyaline types. Hyaline carcartilage tilage is a tough, smooth tissue that lines the surfaces of joints. Fibrocartilage is solid and strong and makes up the intervertebral discs that are situated between the bones of the spine and the shock-absorbing pads in joints. Elastic cartilage is soft and rubbery and found in structures such as the outer ear and the epiglottis.

A hard but pliant substance forming parts of the skeleton – for example, the cartilages of the ribs, of the larynx and of the ears. Microscopically, cartilage is found to consist of cells arranged in twos or in rows, and embedded in a ground-glass-like material devoid of blood vessels and nerves. The end of every long bone has a smooth layer of hyaline cartilage on it where it forms a joint with other bones (articular cartilage), and in young persons up to about the age of 16 there is a plate of cartilage (epiphyseal cartilage) running right across the bone about 12 mm (half an inch) from each end. The latter, by constantly thickening and changing into bone, causes the increase in length of the bone. (See also BONE.) In some situations there is found a combination of cartilage and ?brous tissue, as in the discs between the vertebrae of the spine. This ?bro-cartilage, as it is known, combines the pliability of ?brous tissue with the elasticity of cartilage. (For cartilages of the knee, see KNEE.)

n. a dense connective tissue composed of a matrix produced by cells called chondroblasts, which become embedded in the matrix as chondrocytes. It is a semiopaque grey or white substance, consisting chiefly of *chondroitin sulphate, that is capable of withstanding considerable pressure. There are three types: *hyaline cartilage, *elastic cartilage, and *fibrocartilage (see illustration). In the fetus and infant cartilage occurs in many parts of the body, but most of this cartilage disappears during development. In the adult, hyaline cartilage is found in the costal cartilages, larynx, trachea, bronchi, nose, and covering the surface of bones at joints, where wear and damage results in *osteoarthritis. Elastic cartilage occurs in the external ear, and fibrocartilage in the intervertebral discs and tendons. Cartilage is the precursor of bone following a fracture (see callus).