Cartilage
©1996 University of Kansas Medical Center
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Cartilage can be one of the more challenging sections is histology. Spend some time here
and, just as importantly, on your microscope.
Hyaline Cartilage is pretty straight forward. Look for the isogenous groups in the homogenous
matrix. You shouldn't have much trouble here.
Differentiating elastic cartilage from fibrocartilage (and loose connective tissue
and nerves and Wharton's Jelly, and etc.) is more difficult. On the light microscope
you can "focus through" the cartilage to find the elastic fibers. But even so, it can still be
difficult so be sure to spend some time on it.
When I took histology, there was one thing I did learn: if all else fails,
guess fibrocartilage. Good Luck.