ANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -Bones grow in length at the epiphyseal plate by a process that is similar to endochondral ossification. The cartilage in the region of the epiphyseal plate next to the epiphysis continues to grow by mitosis. The chondrocytes, in the region next to the diaphysis, age and degenerate.

Detailed explanation-2: -Epiphyseal cartilage is hyaline cartilage tissue with a gelatinous texture, and it is responsible for the longitudinal growth of the long bones in birds and mammals. It is located between the epiphysis and the diaphysis. Epiphyseal cartilage also is called a growth plate or physis.

Detailed explanation-3: -By the time the fetal skeleton is fully formed, cartilage only remains at the joint surface as articular cartilage and between the diaphysis and epiphysis as the epiphyseal plate, the latter of which is responsible for the longitudinal growth of bones.

Detailed explanation-4: -While bone is replacing cartilage in the diaphysis, cartilage continues to proliferate at the ends of the bone, increasing bone length. These proliferative areas become the epiphyseal plates (physeal plates/growth plates), which provide longitudinal growth of bones after birth and into early adulthood.

Detailed explanation-5: -The epiphyseal growth plate is the main site of longitudinal growth of the long bones. At this site, cartilage is formed by the proliferation and hypertrophy of cells and synthesis of the typical extracellular matrix. The formed cartilage is then calcified, degraded, and replaced by osseous tissue.