[Epiphyseal vascularization during growth. Study preliminary to transplantation]

A study was conducted of 50 cadavers in children and 25 immature dogs to discover more precisely the vascularization of the lower end of the femur and the iliac crest. It was concluded that it is possible to transplant these epiphyses with anastomosis of three pedicles in the same line. It was also concluded that the vascularisation differs before and after the formation of the bony epiphyseal nucleus. The cartilaginous canals which preclude the vascularisation of hyaline cartilage, the formation of the bony nucleus and the nutrition of the germinal layers of the growth plate are described.