Morphological Study of “Meniskos” in Human Foetuses of South Indian Population and its Clinical Significance

Abstract

Introduction: The shape of the menisci is crescentic. There are variations in the morphology of the menisci. The knowledge about these variants is necessary for the radiologists and orthopaedic surgeons to discriminate between the normal variants and meniscal injuries. Aim: To analyse the morphology of menisci in foetuses in the South Indian Population. Materials and Methods: An observational study was conducted on 30 knee joints of 15 foetuses of age between 20-37 weeks of gestation. The study was conducted between May 2015 to May 2017. The foetuses were fixed with formalin and dissected. The morphology of the menisci was noted macroscopically and tabulated. Results: In the present study, among the 15 foetuses with 30 knee joints, the most common shape was crescent. Among the 30 medial menisci and 30 lateral menisci, there were 33 crescentic-shaped (55%), 7 sickle-shaped (11.7%), 6 C-shaped (10%), five U-shaped (8.4%), 1 V-shaped (1.7%), and 1 ring-shaped menisci (1.7%). Out of 30 medial menisci there was only one incomplete discoid meniscus. Among the 30 lateral menisci there were three complete and three incomplete discoid menisci. In this study, the discoid menisci were observed mostly commonly in the lateral menisci. A rare variant, ring- shaped meniscus was present in one medial meniscus (1.7%). Conclusion: Morphological variants of the menisci are often misinterpreted as tear. The knowledge about the morphology is especially important for the radiologist and orthopaedician to differentiate the tear and the variants in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

Keywords

• discoid menisci
• meniscus
• meniscal injury
• menisci variants
• ring-shaped menisci