Perichondrium

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The perichondrium is the skin of the cartilage . It envelops the cartilage and contains many vessels and nerve endings and is therefore very sensitive to pain.

The perichondrium is divided into

  • a cell-rich inner layer, the stratum cellulare (also stratum chondrogenicum), which contains undifferentiated cartilage-forming cells (from the mesenchyme) that resemble fibroblasts.
  • a fiber-rich outer layer, the stratum fibrosum , which consists of collagen and elastic fibers and counteracts tensile forces.

The task of the perichondrium is on the one hand to nourish the cartilage, on the other hand it has the ability to form the cartilage that is still regenerative when needed in childhood. In adults this is only possible to a very limited extent, if at all. The articular cartilage cannot be renewed because it does not have a perichondrium. It is nourished by the synovial fluid of the joint space.

literature

  • Theodor H. Schiebler, Horst-W. Korf: Anatomy: histology, history of development, macroscopic and microscopic anatomy, topography. 10th edition. Springer, 2007, ISBN 978-3-7985-1770-7 , p. 47.