The thickness of the calcified layer in different joints of a single individual.

Abstract

The thickness of the articular cartilage and its calcified zone were both measured at specially chosen places in several limb joints from five subjects. The volume of the calcified zone expressed as a percentage of the total cartilage was not only constant for one joint, but also in all the joints of a single individual. Nevertheless, the variation between subjects ranges from 6.9 to 8.6%. In two cases both sides of the body were investigated. As was the case in an earlier investigation on the femoral head, the bilateral distribution of the thickness was the same. Since the thickness of the total cartilage varies with the local distribution of loading in the joint, it follows that the thickness of the calcified layer also depends upon mechanical factors. Five subjects is too few to allow correlation with age or sex to be either refuted or confirmed. There is some evidence in the existing literature that the thickness of the calcified zone may be altered by disease.