Corpus: Hyaline cartilage

Hyaline cartilage is a form of cartilage tissue found primarily in articular cartilage.

Hyaline cartilage has a milky, bluish colour under the light microscope with HE staining. In contrast to fibrous cartilage, the fibre structures of the collagen (type II) cannot be seen under the light microscope. This is why the collagen fibres of hyaline cartilage are referred to as masked fibres. The histological picture is characterised by chondrocytes, often lying in groups. The chondrocytes are surrounded by a basophilic, extracellular basic substance, the cartilage matrix. A group of chondrocytes with the surrounding territory ("cartilage halo") is called a chondron.

Perichondrium[Bearbeiten]

With the exception of articular cartilage, hyaline cartilage is covered by a perichondrium (cartilage membrane), which consists of two layers:

• outer fibrous layer (stratum fibrosum) of tight connective tissue. It absorbs the tensile forces that occur during bending.
• inner cell-rich layer (stratum chondrogenicum), which contains undifferentiated mesenchymal cells that can differentiate into chondroblasts. It is used for regeneration.

Hyaline cartilage is not permeated with blood vessels. The blood vessels extend to the perichondrium and from there supply the chondrocytes by diffusion through the cartilage matrix, which can correspond to a layer several millimetres thick.

• Articular cartilage
• Respiratory tract:
  • Nose
    • Nasal septum
    • Cartilago nasi lateralis (triangular cartilage)
    • Cartilago alaris major (wing cartilage)
    • Cartilagines alares minores (sesamoid cartilage)
    • Cartilagines alares accessoriae
  • Laryngeal skeleton
  • Trachea
  • Bronchi
• Costal cartilage
• Growth plates
• Primordial skeleton (cartilaginous preformed structures of the skeleton)