Shapes Of Menisci Of Knee Joint: A Human Cadaveric Study

ABSTRACT

Background: The Medial and Lateral Menisci have very important roles in knee joint stability, functioning anddynamic loading and are thus important in maintaining proper joint health and stability.Purpose: To estimate the incidence of various shapes of the Lateral and Medial Menisci which can throw light onits clinical significance on ligament injuries of knee joint.Results: 50% 0f the Medial Menisci were crescent- shaped,37% were sided V-shaped and the remaining 13% weresided U-shaped. 72% of the Lateral Menisci were found to be C-shaped and 26% were crescent-shaped. Onepartial discoid lateral meniscus (2%) was observed.Conclusion: The various morphological variants of Menisci determined in the study revealed that most commonsubgroup of the Medial Meniscus was crescentic type and that of Lateral Menisci was C shaped. A singlespecimen of partial Discoid Lateral Meniscus was observed which is of rare occurrence.Implications The present study contributes to proper understanding of anatomy of both Medial and LateralMenisci which can be helpful in planning various surgical procedures including meniscal transplantation. Thisknowledge also helps in understanding degenerative diseases affecting knee joint Menisci. Discoid LateralMeniscus, a rare anomaly which was reported in the present study is clinically important because of its higherincidence of meniscal tears.