BACKGROUNDThe menisci are two crescentic lamellae, which serve to deepen the surfaces of the articular fossae of the head of the tibia for reception of the condyles of the femur. The menisci share load and reduce contact stresses across the joint. Injuries are sustained more often by the medial than the lateral meniscus in the proportion of 4:1, 5:1 or even 20:1.The objectives of this study were to estimate the different shapes of the medial and lateral menisci, and the incidence of discoid meniscus of the knee joint in human foetuses of Manipur population.
MATERIALS AND METHODSAfter taking formal permission from the Institutional Ethics Committee and concerned parents, the study was carried out on 200 foetal knee joints. The skin with fibrous capsule and the ligamentum patellae were cut. The cruciate ligaments were also cut and the menisci were exposed. The morphological variants of the shapes of the lateral and the medial menisci were macroscopically noted and classified.
RESULTSOn the lateral menisci, 56% of them were C-shaped, 31% of them were crescent shaped, 8% were U-shaped and 5% were incomplete discoid. On the medial menisci, 79% were crescent shaped, 11% were C-shaped and 7% were V-shaped and 3% were incomplete discoid. No total discoid meniscus was observed in the study.
CONCLUSIONThe majority of the knees showed C-shaped lateral meniscus and crescent-shaped medial meniscus.