Epiphyseal plate

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Epiphyseal plate

The epiphyseal plate (or epiphysial plate, physis, or growth plate) is a hyaline cartilage

Cartilage

Cartilage is a type of dense connective tissue. It is composed of specialized cells called chondrocyte that produce a large amount of extracellular matrix composed of collagen fibers, abundant ground substance rich in proteoglycan, and elastin fibers....
plate in the metaphysis

Metaphysis

The metaphysis is the portion of a long bone between the epiphysis and the diaphysis. The "growth plate", or "physis", or "epiphyseal plate", although it precedes the development of the ossified metaphysis, may also be referred to as the metaphysis....
at each end of a long bone

Long bone

The long bones are those that are longer than they are wide, and grow primarily by elongation of the diaphysis, with an epiphysis at the ends of the growing bone....
. The plate is found in children and adolescents; in adults, who have stopped growing, the plate is replaced by an epiphyseal line.

Anatomy & Development
Epiphyseal plates are present in growing bones.

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Encyclopedia

The epiphyseal plate (or epiphysial plate, physis, or growth plate) is a hyaline cartilage

Cartilage

Metaphysis

Long bone

Anatomy & Development

Epiphyseal plates are present in growing bones. For example, they are found in children and are present through puberty and early adulthood. These plates are located at one or both ends of bones between the epiphysis

Epiphysis

The epiphysis is the rounded end of a long bone, at its joint with adjacent bone. Between the epiphysis and diaphysis lies the metaphysis, including the epiphyseal plate ....
(end) and the diaphysis

Diaphysis

The diaphysis is the main or mid section of a long_bone . It is made up of cortical bone and usually contains bone marrow and adipose tissue ....
(shaft) of long bones. Growth occurs towards the diaphysis or shaft of the long bone. In most adults, the epiphyseal plates ossify by the mid twenties and growth arrests.

Role in Bone Elongation

Whereas endochondral ossification

Endochondral ossification

Endochondral ossification is one of the two processes during fetal development of the mammal skeleton in which bone tissue is created. It is also an essential process during the rudimentary formation of long bones, the growth of the Epiphyseal plate of long bones, and the healing of bone healing....
is responsible for the initial bone development from cartilage in utero

In Utero

In Utero is the third and final studio album by the American Grunge music band Nirvana , released on September 13, 1993 by DGC Records. Nirvana intended the record to be significantly divergent from the polished production of its previous album Nevermind ....
and infants, the epiphyseal plate is responsible for longitudinal growth of bones. The plate's chondrocytes are under constant division by mitosis

Mitosis

Mitosis is the process in which a eukaryotic cell separates the chromosomes in its cell nucleus, into two identical sets in two daughter nuclei....
. These daughter cells stack facing the epiphysis

Epiphysis

Diaphysis

The diaphysis is the main or mid section of a long_bone . It is made up of cortical bone and usually contains bone marrow and adipose tissue ....
. As the older chondrocytes degenerate, osteoblasts ossify the remains to form new bone. Around the end of puberty, the epiphyseal cartilage cells stop duplicating and the entire cartilage is slowly replaced by bone, leaving only a thin epiphyseal line. Once the adult stage is reached, the only way to manipulate height is modifying bone length via distraction osteogenesis

Distraction osteogenesis

Distraction osteogenesis, also called callus distraction, callotasis and osteodistraction is a Surgery process used to reconstruct Skeleton Deformity and lengthen the long bones of the body....
.

The growth plate has a very specific morphology in having a zonal arrangement. The growth plate includes a relatively inactive reserve zone at the epiphyseal end, moving distally into a proliferative and then hyper trophic zone and ending with a band of ossifying cartilage (the metaphysis). The growth plate is clinically relevant in that it is often the primary site for infection, metastasis, fractures and the effects of endocrine bone disorders.

Pathology

Defects in the development and continued division of epiphyseal plates can lead to growth disorders. The most common defect is achondroplasia

Achondroplasia

Achondroplasia dwarfism is a type of autosomal Dominance genetic disorder that is a common cause of dwarfism. Achondroplastic dwarfs have short stature, with an average adult height of 131 centimeter for males and 123 cm for females....
, where there is a defect in cartilage formation. Achondroplasia is the most common cause of dwarfism

Dwarfism

Dwarfism is a medical term describing a person of short stature, with the most widely accepted definition of a dwarf being a person with an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches ....
.

Salter-Harris fractures

Salter-Harris Fractures

Salter-Harris Fractures: Descriptive terms for bone fractures affecting the growth plate of a bone. Once bone growth has completed, the term "Salter-Harris Fracture" no longer applies....
can occur on epiphyseal plates.

Studies in Animals

John Hunter

John Hunter (surgeon)

John Hunter was a Scotland surgery regarded as one of the most distinguished scientists and surgeons of his day. He was an early advocate of careful observation and scientific method in medicine....
studied growing chickens. He observed bones grew at the ends and thus demonstrated the existence of the epiphyseal plates. Hunter is considered the "father of the growth plate".