Distinguishing ankle and knee articular cartilage.

Degenerative changes in the tall and femoral distal cartilages of more than 2,000 tissue donors were graded based on the appearance of articular cartilage and osteophytes. In the ankle and the knee the degenerative changes increased with age; however, the rate of degeneration in the ankle was slower than in the knee. The degenerative changes in the ankle were more severe in men than in women, were predominantly bilateral, and seemed to be correlated with weight. The slower rate of change in the ankle may be caused, in part, by the biochemical and biomechanical tissue properties that distinguish ankle cartilage from that of the knee.