Table 1 Previous characters used to identify medullary bone (MB) fail to distinguish this female-specific tissue from other medullary bone like tissues (MBL)
Character | Description |
|---|---|
1 | Occur in the medullary cavity and other cancellous spaces throughout the appendicular and axial skeletons |
2 | Be of endosteal origin |
3 | Primarily have a woven arrangement of the collagen fibers indicative of rapid formation (may also be partially parallel-fibered or lamellar in some instances) |
4 | Co-occur with a periosteal surface free from pathological indicators |
5 | Line a majority of the medullary cavity (including trabecular surfaces) |
6 | Be clearly demarcated from the cortical tissue without a graded transition |
7 | Occur in multiple elements including the tibiotarsus |
8 | Coincide with reduced growth rates indicative of sexual maturity |
9 | Often have vascular canals with a doublet or triplet pattern within osteon-like structures (“vascular sinuses”) |
10 | Have a histochemistry comparable to that of extant avian medullary bone (e.g., shows higher amounts of glycosaminoglycans than that of cortical bone) (unique histochemical signature, yet to be determined) |
11 | Have a mineral to collagen ratio significantly greater than that of cortical bone |
