Malacia Explained

Malacia is abnormal softening of a biological tissue, most often cartilage. The word is derived from Greek μαλακός, malakos = soft. Usually the combining form -malacia suffixed to another combining form that denotes the affected tissue assigns a more specific name to each such disorder, as follows:

• Osteomalacia (rickets), a bone disorder from vitamin D deficiency ^[1]
• Chondromalacia, softening of cartilage (often refers to chondromalacia patellae when mentioned without further specification)
  • Chondromalacia patellae, a disorder of cartilage under the kneecap ^[2]
  • Bronchomalacia, a disorder of the bronchial tubes' cartilage ^[3]
  • Laryngomalacia, a disorder of the larynx's cartilage
  • Tracheomalacia, a disorder of the trachea's cartilage ^[3]
• Keratomalacia, an eye disorder from vitamin A deficiency
• Myelomalacia, a disorder of the spinal cord
• Cerebral softening (encephalomalacia), localized softening of brain tissue

External links

• Definition at MedineNet.com

Notes and References

1. Cianferotti . Luisella . Osteomalacia Is Not a Single Disease . International Journal of Molecular Sciences . 28 November 2022 . 23 . 23 . 14896 . 10.3390/ijms232314896 . free . 36499221 . 9740398 . 1422-0067.
2. Kong . Yuefeng . Yu . Hanhua . A study on the correlation between patellofemoral joint morphology and early patella malacia in young adults: quantitative analysis based on magnetic resonance . Annals of Translational Medicine . 31 January 2023 . 11 . 2 . 48 . 10.21037/atm-22-6200 . free . 36819493 . 9929829 . 2305-5839.
3. Pan . Wei . Peng . Donghong . Luo . Jian . Liu . Enmei . Luo . Zhengxiu . Dai . Jihong . Fu . Zhou . Li . Qubei . Huang . Ying . Clinical features of airway malacia in children: a retrospective analysis of 459 patients . International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine . 2014 . 7 . 9 . 3005–3012 . 25356175 . 4211825 . en.