MICROANATOMY

Detailed explanation-1: -Structure. Elastic cartilage is histologically similar to hyaline cartilage but contains many yellow elastic fibers lying in a solid matrix. These fibers form bundles that appear dark under a microscope.

Detailed explanation-2: -Elastic cartilage is present in the nasal tip and external ear and as the corniculate cartilage of the larynx. Elastin is the matrix compound that permits flexibility and memory within elastic cartilage.

Detailed explanation-3: -Elastic cartilage tissue or yellow cartilage is the connective tissue that is found in body organs that do not bear body load, for example, the nose, ear, eustachian tube, and epiglottis.

Detailed explanation-4: -Elastic cartilage is sometimes confusingly referred to as fibroelastic cartilage (this is confusing because there is another type of cartilage called fibrocartilage). It is usually recognizable by its dull yellow color. The other two types of cartilage – hyaline and fibrous – are white in appearance.

Detailed explanation-5: -Elastic cartilage, which is yellow in appearance, is more pliable than the other two forms because it contains elastic fibres in addition to collagen. In humans it makes up the external ear, the auditory tube of the middle ear, and the epiglottis.