The fate of hypertrophic chondrocytes of the epiphyseal plate. An electron microscopic study.

An ultrastructural study of the distal femoral epiphyseal-metaphyseal junction of C3H mice revealed that the hypertrophic chondrocytes undergo degenerative changes leading to their death. While most chondrocytes will die before their lacunae are opened to the marrow, others survive for a time in lacunae which communicate with the primary spongiosa, but they also ultimately die. There was no evidence to indicate that hypertrophic chondrocytes survive or are transformed into other cells.