Articular cartilage is the shiny white 'gristle' covering the ends of joint bones, where they articulate.

Page updated March 2024 by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor)

cartilage

 

Outerbridge Grade 0 cartilage - normal patellar cartilage

 

Normal articular cartilage (joint cartilage) of femur (below) and patella (above) in the knee joint. Grade 0 on the Outerbridge scale

 

What is articular cartilage composed of?

The white articular cartilage has a very special internal structure, with the cartilage cells or chondrocytes suspended in pockets within a background matrix supported by collagen fibres.

 

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Articular cartilage damage and arthritis

Articular cartilage is also called joint cartilage or hyaline cartilage. It is damage to the articular cartilage which is called 'arthritis'

In the knee all efforts are geared towards preventing any damage or breakdown of this all-essential joint surface, as it has a poor blood supply and does not heal well if damaged.

 

  • Quote from peer-reviewed paper:

    "Once articular cartilage is damaged, full recovery of its structure, function and biomechanical property is hardly expected in most cases....stimulation of articular cartilage repair and regeneration of articular cartilage are strong demands [from patients]...."

    Citation: Iwamoto M, Ohta Y, Larmour C, Enomoto-Iwamoto M. Toward regeneration of articular cartilage. Birth Defects Res C Embryo Today. 2013 Sep;99(3):192-202. doi: 10.1002/bdrc.21042. PMID: 24078496; PMCID: PMC4089504.

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Grading of articular cartilage damage

Surgeons will grade the damage they see through the arthroscope according to the 'Outerbridge' scale.

This allows other surgeons to easily understand the situation, and also provides a measure that can be compared with later findings if the cartilage deteriorates or improves.

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Synonyms: 
Joint cartilage
Hyaline cartilage
Gristle
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Dr Sheila Strover (Editor)
BSc (Hons), MB BCh, MBA

See biography...


Cartilage disorders -

Classification -

Cartilage repair -


Short course -

Karen Hambly2008 - Articular cartilage repair - by Dr Karen Hambly (Physiotherapist)



 

eBook - Clearing up confusion about knee cartilage

eBook authored by Dr Sheila Strover (Clinical Editor), explaining the difference between articular cartilage and meniscus cartilage. Free to download.