The resurfacing of adult rabbit articular cartilage by multiple perforations through the subchondral bone

Abstract

The repair of articular cartilage removed from the femora of adult rabbits at the knee was studied. When multiple perforations were made through the subchondral bone a cartilaginous material, staining heavily with safranin O, first filled the holes. This material resembled hyaline cartilage, and by twelve months there was complete resurfacing of the joint, although the material lost its hyaline appearance after eight months and at one year it resembled dense collagenous tissue.