title: Gross pathological changes in the knee joint of the aged individual: a study of 300 cases.
abstract: The incidence of chondromalacia of the pattella and degenerative arthritis of the knee is based on conjectural rather than objective autopsy observations. The notion that chondromalacia is a disabling, troublesome and almost universal disease affecting most older individuals is chiefly derived from clinical impressions of physicians who treat arthritis plus a few reports of European authors published some 50 years ago. The present investigation of 300 cadaver knees, whose average age was 70 years, demonstrates a much lower incidence of degenerative lesions of the articular cartilage than might be expected. There was minimal or no damage to the patella in 62% of the cases and an even lower incidence of 23% in the weight-bearing areas of the joint. Eighty-two per cent of the menisci were essentially normal, as were 96% of the cruciates. In patients in the U.S.A., articular cartilage of the knee resists the wear and tear of a normal lifespan remarkably well and infrequently undergoes progressive degradation.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002102:Cadaver; D002357:Cartilage Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010329:Patella / Q000473:pathology