EPIPHYSEAL DISC – 2
The growth in width of long bones is made by the proliferation of osteoblasts placed on the outer surface of the bones. The osteoblasts secrete bone matrix that is gradually added to the pre-existing bone matrix and simultaneously they transform into osteocytes. A layer of osteoblasts originated by mitotic division keeps covering the new bone surface.
The following pages will deal with the growth in length of long bones.
Attention will be focused on the epyphyseal disk, also called epiphyseal plate or growth plate, since the events that result in the longitudinal growth of long bones take place in this region.
