Chapter 4 Cell injury, inflammation and repair/Fig 4.33.jpg

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Fracture healing. This segment of rib was excised from a woman aged 22 years, who complained of a painful swelling in the chest wall, of a few weeks’ duration. The preoperative diagnosis was of a tumour of bone. (A) The gross specimen shows an irregular fracture line involving both cortices and the medullary canal. The fracture is bridged by periosteal callus, which is particularly marked on the superior surface. (B) Histological examination shows that the periosteal callus consists of arcades of reactive bone and a mass of cartilage overlaying the fracture line. There is also callus within the medullary canal. At this relatively early stage of fracture healing, the fracture gap remains unrepaired.