Cartilage Histology Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A small cluster of similar chondrocytes appears close together in the matrix. What does this isogenous group most strongly indicate?
Invasion by blood vessels
Fusion of separate lacunae during degeneration
Differentiation of cartilage into bone
Recent division of a parent chondrocyte
2. Why does adult articular cartilage generally have limited capacity for repair after injury?
It is avascular and lacks a perichondrium that could supply repair cells
Its matrix contains no collagen or proteoglycans
It is replaced weekly by cells from synovial fluid
Its chondrocytes are continuously shed from the joint surface
3. A cartilage specimen becomes thicker as cells in the inner perichondrial layer differentiate and deposit new matrix at its surface. Which process is occurring?
Interstitial growth
Appositional growth
Matrix calcification
Endochondral ossification
4. A section shows chondrocytes arranged in rows between thick, readily visible collagen bundles. Which tissue is the best match?
Hyaline cartilage
Fibrocartilage
Dense irregular connective tissue
Elastic cartilage
5. What most directly accounts for much of the basophilic staining of cartilage ground substance on routine histological sections?
Large deposits of neutral triglycerides
Abundant calcium phosphate crystals
Negatively charged sulfated glycosaminoglycans
Concentrated elastic lamellae alone
6. Why must nutrients generally reach chondrocytes by diffusion through the cartilage matrix?
Chondrocytes cannot use nutrients carried in blood
Cartilage is normally avascular
The perichondrium blocks all exchange with surrounding tissue
Lacunae are sealed by a mineralized wall
7. With an appropriate fiber stain, which feature most directly distinguishes elastic cartilage from hyaline cartilage?
Mineralized concentric lamellae
Parallel bundles of type I collagen
A branching network of elastic fibers
A surface layer of keratinized cells
8. Young cartilage expands as chondrocytes divide within the existing matrix and produce matrix between the daughter cells. What is this called?
Appositional growth
Interstitial growth
Intramembranous ossification
Perichondrial fibrosis
9. On an H&E-stained section, the matrix immediately surrounding a chondrocyte lacuna appears darker than the matrix farther away. What is this darker region called?
Territorial matrix
Interterritorial matrix
Perichondrial matrix
Osteoid seam
10. Which collagen type is the principal fibrillar collagen in typical hyaline cartilage?
Type I collagen
Type III collagen
Type II collagen
Type IV collagen
11. A flexible structure must repeatedly bend and return to its original shape. Which location characteristically contains elastic cartilage suited to this role?
Epiglottis
Pubic symphysis
Intervertebral disc
Articular surface of the femur
12. Which cartilage site normally lacks a perichondrium at its free surface?
Costal cartilage joining a rib to the sternum
Hyaline cartilage in a tracheal ring
Elastic cartilage of the auricle
Articular cartilage covering a synovial joint surface
13. A tracheal ring has a smooth, glassy matrix containing chondrocytes in lacunae and is surrounded by perichondrium. What type of cartilage is it?
Calcified cartilage
Elastic cartilage
Fibrocartilage
Hyaline cartilage
14. Near the edge of developing cartilage, a cell is actively secreting matrix but has not yet become fully enclosed in a lacuna. How should it be identified?
Chondroblast
Chondrocyte
Osteoblast
Fibrocyte
15. Which mature cartilage cell normally occupies a lacuna within the extracellular matrix?
Fibroblast
Chondroblast
Chondrocyte
Osteocyte
16. A knee meniscus specimen must resist both compression and tensile stress. Which cartilage type is expected to dominate?
Calcified articular cartilage throughout
Elastic cartilage
Typical hyaline cartilage
Fibrocartilage