Chondrocyte apoptosis and posttraumatic arthrosis.

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, plays an important role in many normal and pathologic conditions. This article has been designed to introduce the concept of chondrocyte apoptosis and how it may contribute to posttraumatic arthrosis following articular injury. Available means of assessing chondrocyte apoptosis are presented, in addition to the findings of in vitro and in vivo studies of cartilage injury. Unfortunately, despite active research in this area, the exact contribution chondrocyte apoptosis makes following joint injury to the development of posttraumatic arthrosis is unknown.