Intra-articular accessory cartilage fragments in fossa olecrani

Abstract

Elbow injuries are common, diverse and very painful. They can affect the muscles and the neurovascular bundle, as well as, the elbow joint itself (articulatio cubiti). ObjectiveTo present a case of the anatomical variation cartilago supratrochlearis dorsalis. Materials and methodsThe classical layered dissection method was used during the education of students at the Medical University of Plovdiv, Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology. ResultsA deformed circumferentia articularis radii with a 9mm in diameter erosion in fovea capitis radii. Fossa olecrani has a preserved form and size and contains three accessorious, flat, well confined, hard formations – rhombus-shaped (5/4mm), elliptical-shaped (4/2mm), bisegmented with an irregular shape (6/4mm). No pathologies of the olecranon were identified.Besides the typical chondrocytes, no inflammatory cells were found – plasma cells, histiocytes and foreign-body cells. The connective tissue matrix is not homogeneous. No signs of ossification are found.