Week 2
Online Histology Pre-lab
Histology of Connective Tissues - 5
Elastic cartilage
Feel your external ear (pinna). The firmness is due to a cartilage (as opposed to the soft lower part, the lobule). Bend it and then release it, it snaps back to its original position - it has elastic cartilage in it.
Elastic cartilage is very similar to hyaline cartilage except for the preponderance of elastic fibres. These are visible in H&E sections, though special stains for elastic material makes them even more dramatic.
 The perichondrium is on the left side of the blue line. Even at low magnification the similarity and contrast with hyaline cartilage is obvious. |
Higher magnification makes the features self-evident. Also note the isogenous group with two cells.! |
