Chondro-osseous pathology in the chondrodystrophies.

The majority of chondrodystrophies are associated with distinct abnormalities in chondro-osseous histopathology. In some disorders, the pathological abnormalities are characteristic and can be used as diagnostic criteria, in other instances the morphological abnormalities are not specific, and in still others, no abnormality in chondro-osseous morphology is present. In this paper, the chondro-osseous histopathology and ultrastructure of a number of chondrodystrophies are reviewed to illustrate the different pathogenetic mechanisms involved in each of these disorders.