A morphological study on femoral heads in human hip joint osteoarthrosis

Several pathogenetical and clinical interpretation of osteoarthritic modifications are given in the literature. In this work we tried to compare in humans macroscopic, structural and ultrastructural observations on eight osteoarthritic with four femural heads from control patients. The sample for Light Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy observations came from selected regions of the femural head, which included both cartilage and bone tissue of loaded and unloaded regions. The cartilage showed superficial lesions, such as erosions and fissures, and deep lesions that included matrix alterations and chondrocyte proliferation. In relation to the thickening of the subchondral bone we noticed an irregular bone-cartilage surface with signs of bone tissue proliferation. The trabeculae appeared thickened in loaded zones and rarefied in unloaded ones. Cavities were sometimes present at different depths in cancellous bone. Our observations allow us to conclude that cartilage lesions are precocious, diffusely located and relatively independent of the considered zone of the femural head, while bone tissue alterations seem evenly sited and chronologically subsequent. The cavities in the cancellous bone could produce load modifications and consequent bone deformity.