Abstract
The hyaline cartilage structure is very complex, with few cells, and without blood and lymphatic vessels or nerves. This makes the healing potential very limited. Knee cartilage injuries are very common, and its treatment is a major challenge. Surgical options available nowadays like chondroplasty, microfractures, mosaicplasty and autologous chondrocyte transplantation still doesn't have satisfactory results, mainly in long term. Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) has been used in orthopedics since the 90's in order to stimulate tissue healing, because of its potential to concentrate platelet derived growth factors in the target place. The goal of the PRP application is to stimulate a better healing environment. PRP has been used in cartilage to treat osteoarthritis and to support treatment techniques for chondral injuries. However, the literature is still doubtful regarding the surgical results with PRP application.
Highlights
Chondral Tissue StructureThe hyaline cartilage covers the joint’s surfaces and has the ability to support intense and repeated compression and tensile forces
The hyaline cartilage structure is very complex, with few cells, and without blood and lymphatic vessels or nerves
The cartilage is composed of four main layers: the superficial layer, thinner, with flat ellipsoids cells, parallel to the articular surface and covered with a thin synovial fluid layer. Chondrocytes of this zone synthesize a high concentration of collagen and few proteoglycans, which makes the high water concentration of this zone
Summary
The hyaline cartilage covers the joint’s surfaces and has the ability to support intense and repeated compression and tensile forces. Chondrocytes nutrition and metabolites transport are made by diffusion through the extracellular matrix and depend on the synovial fluid [1,2] These are spheroidal cells without cell to cell contact and are only 1-5% of the total cartilage volume [2]. The cartilage is composed of four main layers: the superficial layer, thinner, with flat ellipsoids cells, parallel to the articular surface and covered with a thin synovial fluid layer (called lamina splendens). Chondrocytes of this zone synthesize a high concentration of collagen and few proteoglycans, which makes the high water concentration of this zone. It is noted that this layer has type X collagen synthesis, responsible by the structure and shock absorption of the subchondral bone [2]
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