Background The cartilage of the epiphyseal plate might be 2–5 times weaker than surrounding fibrous tissue; therefore epiphyseal (growth) plates are very sensitive to their surrounding mechanical ...

Human proximal and distal femur growth plate tissues were collected from 14 girls and five boys at different pubertal stages who were undergoing surgery for different medical indications (Table 1).

More than 35 y ago, Prader, Tanner, and von Harnack observed that children undergo supranormal linear growth after release from growth-inhibiting conditions (1). This phenomenon, termed catch-up ...