Which statement accurately describes hyaline cartilage’s vascularization and innervation?

Which statement accurately describes hyaline cartilage’s vascularization and innervation?

• A. Avascular and aneural
• B. Highly vascularized and innervated
• C. Moderately vascularized and innervated
• D. Fully innervated but avascular

Answer: (A)

Hyaline cartilage is nourished by diffusion rather than by a blood supply, and it contains no nerves. The chondrocytes survive inside lacunae by nutrients and oxygen diffusing through the abundant extracellular matrix from surrounding tissues or synovial fluid, not from vessels. In joints, articular cartilage typically lacks a perichondrium and there are no nerve fibers within the tissue, so it is avascular and aneural. This arrangement helps explain why cartilage injuries heal slowly: there isn’t a direct blood supply to bring in reparative cells, and there are no nerves in the tissue to convey pain from cartilage itself (pain usually arises from surrounding structures). While some hyaline cartilage elsewhere in the body may have a perichondrium with vessels, the common characterization for articular/hyaline cartilage emphasizes avascularity and lack of innervation.

Hyaline cartilage is nourished by diffusion rather than by a blood supply, and it contains no nerves. The chondrocytes survive inside lacunae by nutrients and oxygen diffusing through the abundant extracellular matrix from surrounding tissues or synovial fluid, not from vessels. In joints, articular cartilage typically lacks a perichondrium and there are no nerve fibers within the tissue, so it is avascular and aneural. This arrangement helps explain why cartilage injuries heal slowly: there isn’t a direct blood supply to bring in reparative cells, and there are no nerves in the tissue to convey pain from cartilage itself (pain usually arises from surrounding structures). While some hyaline cartilage elsewhere in the body may have a perichondrium with vessels, the common characterization for articular/hyaline cartilage emphasizes avascularity and lack of innervation.