On anormal nutrition in articular cartilages / by P. Redfern.

  • Redfern, Peter, 1821-1912.
Date:
1849-1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On anormal nutrition in articular cartilages / by P. Redfern. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    middle of the thickness of the cartilage. The part of the surface which corres¬ ponds to it, is granular and reddened, and is at all points far distant from the edge of the cartilage. Fig XI. Fig. XII. Figs. XI. and XII.—Vertical sections of cartilage from the surface of the patella; a; free surface. Remarks.—This was the case of a man, who, though walking about without any lameness, up to a fortnight previous to his death, had considerable disease of the cartilages of the patella and left tibia, involving, in some parts, nearly the whole thickness of the structure. There can be no doubt, therefore, that disease may go on to the com¬ plete removal of portions of articular cartilage in the centre of a joint, without any symptoms whatever; and, it is probable, that the whole of the cartilage might be so removed, were it not that other structures generally become involved in the disease. When it is considered that cartilage belongs to the simplest class of textures,—that its functions are mechanical ones—and that it is not furnished with nerves, these facts are not so surprising as they would otherwise appear. The fact of the existence of actual disease, in the two cases now related, is certain, from the changed condition of the structure. In the en¬ largement and crowding of the cells with corpuscles, and the splitting of the hyaline substance into bands, this case resembles the former, hut here, fibrous tissue, in some parts absolutely incapable of being dis¬ tinguished from that of ligaments, was formed by the splitting of the hyaline bands, whilst the nuclei of many of the cells were destroyed by being converted into granules. These granules were not affected by acetic acid, by the copious application of liquor potassae for four hours, nor could they be seen to undergo any change on the addition of ether. In cells further advanced in disease, there are large glo¬ bules of oil, but the granules are irregular in their outline, though like oil in other respects. Probably they constitute one stage in the conversion of nuclei into oil. In most parts the disease appears to