[Quantitative histological study of the cartilage of human arthrotic femur head].

A quantitative histological study of the cartilage of the human arthrosic femoral head. In this work, samples of unsplit cartilage taken from 15 arthrosic femoral heads and 26 normal femoral heads from the same topographical areas, and of identical age, were studied by quantitative histological methods. This study was concerned with the thickness of the calcified and non-calcified cartilage, the cellular density, the average number of nuclei per lacuna, and the average surface area of the lacunae in the different layers of the cartilage. Comparison between the two groups of samples showed that the arthrosic cartilage differed from the normal cartilage by a diminution in the size of the superficial lacunae, a reduction in the number of nuclei per lacuna in the middle layer, a diminution in the cellularity of the deep layer and an augmentation in the layer of calcified cartilage. These modifications suggest that arthrosis of the hip is secondary to diffuse cellular alterations associating a diminution in metabolic activity and necrosis of the chondrocytes.