Premium
SURFACE CHANGES IN THE ARTICULAR CARTILAGE OF RABBIT KNEE DURING IMMOBILIZATION. A SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPIC STUDY OF EXPERIMENTAL OSTEOARTHRITIS
Author(s) -
CANDOLIN T.,
VIDEMAN T.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
acta pathologica microbiologica scandinavica section a pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0365-4184
DOI - 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1980.tb02499.x
Subject(s) - patella , osteoarthritis , articular cartilage , articular surface , condyle , femur , anatomy , tibia , scanning electron microscope , cartilage , knee joint , medicine , materials science , pathology , surgery , composite material , alternative medicine
Osteoarthritis was produced by the immobilization of rabbit knees in extension for 1–8 weeks (with a subsequent mobilization period of 0 or 8 weeks). The development of articular surface changes in the tibia, the femur and the patella was examined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). During the development of osteoarthritis the normal undulations and fine regular fibre network disappeared, the number of fibres and the variation in the thickness of the fibre bundles increased, and scaly irregularities appeared. Some degenerative changes in the contralateral, non‐immobilized hind limb also appeared. The normal features of the articular surface of the patella differed from that of the tibial and femoral condyles. The changes seen with SEM correlated well with histological and biochemical results of earlier studies, but, at 1 week of immobilization, the SEM changes were more readily apparent than the histological changes. The SEM method seems to be useful for the study of articular surfaces;