[Physiopathology of primitive arthrosis. Problems and hypotheses]

The origin and the evolution of the so-called primitive arthrosis represent two problems that hypotheses, developed by the authors, contribute to elucidate. Primitive arthrosis begins with a prearthrosic chondropathy which looks like the changes in the joint cartilage due to aging and due both to local conditions preventing the nutrition of the cartilage and to general factors causing failure of the system regulating the synthesis and the differentiation of articular tissues. These conditions are also relevant to primitive monoarthrosis, relatively rare in comparison with the frequency of secondary arthrosis and in comparison with arthrosis disease, which is the prototype of primitive polyarthrosis. The variable mixture of different local and general factors can explain the differences in evolution of primitive arthrosis, ranging from slow chondral erosion to accelerated destruction of bone and cartilage.