Anatomy study note · Lower limb

Menisci of the knee

Two C-shaped fibrocartilages on the tibial condyles that deepen the articular surfaces, cushion the joint and distribute forces.

Key points

• C-shaped fibrocartilage; deepen the tibial condyles.
• Medial meniscus fixed to the MCL → torn more often.
• Mechanism: rotation on a flexed, weight-bearing knee.
• Bucket-handle tear → locking.
• Joint: from mesenchyme between bone ends.
• Synovial cavity forms in the middle layer.
• Meniscus: fibrocartilage.
• Fibrocartilage: type I collagen, no perichondrium.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Features · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 1400–1409
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 10, PDF p. 144
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 117, 120

More from the lower limb

• Metatarsal bones
• Patella
• Pectineus
• Phalanges of the foot
• Plantar aponeurosis
• Plantar arteries
• Plantar nerves
• Plantaris
• Popliteal artery
• Popliteal lymph nodes
• Popliteal vein
• Popliteus

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