ANATOMY OF THE HUMAN PATELLA

  • Karina Almeida Calderon Universidade Estadual de Maringá - UEM
  • Priscila Almeida Inhoti Universidade Estadual de Maringá - UEM
  • Sonia Maria Marques Gomes Bertolini Centro Universitário de Maringá - CESUMAR
Keywords: Knee, Patella, Anatomic variation.

Abstract

The dysfunction of the femur-patella complex is one of the most current changes in knee pathology. It manifests itself in the anterior section of the articulation and in functional deficits which impair day-to-day activities. The patella morphology has been shown to be an important factor in the above-mentioned dysfunction. Current essay analyzes the patella morphology of adult human skeletons and contributes towards their clinical applications. Seventy-six human patellae from the anatomy laboratory of the Department of Morphological Sciences of the Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá PR Brazil, were investigated. Macroscopic analyses were undertaken for their classification according to shape, lateral sides, symmetry and anatomical variations. Macroscopic analysis classified the patellae with regard to form into three types: Type I: triangular shape; Type II oval shape and Type III irregular shape, with a predominant (67.1%) Type I patellae. In the case of the articulating sides, the lateral side of 85.5% of the patellae was bigger; articulating sides patellae with the same dimensions occurred in 7.9% of cases, whereas in 6.6% the medial side was almost absent. The patella angle formed by the medial and lateral articulating sides of most patellae analyzed ranged between 116º and 120º. Results show that the different classifications based on morphological aspects should be taken into account in the bio-mechanic analysis of the knee articulation and in the femur-patella dysfunctions, especially of idiopathic origin.

Author Biographies

Karina Almeida Calderon, Universidade Estadual de Maringá - UEM
Bióloga graduada pela Universidade Paranaense UNIPAR – Umuarama; Especialista em Anatomia e Histologia: métodos de ensino e pesquisa pela Universidade Estadual de Maringá – UEM; E-mail: kacalderon@hotmail.com
Priscila Almeida Inhoti, Universidade Estadual de Maringá - UEM
Fisioterapeuta graduada pela Faculdade Ingá – UNINGÁ; Especialista em Anatomia e Histologia: métodos de ensino e pesquisa pela Universidade Estadual de Maringá – UEM; E-mail: pri_inhoti@yahoo.com.br
Sonia Maria Marques Gomes Bertolini, Centro Universitário de Maringá - CESUMAR
Docente do Curso de Fisioterapia do Centro Universitário de Maringá – CESUMAR; Docente da Universidade Estadual de Maringá – UEM. E-mail: smmgbertolini@cesumar.br
Published
2012-04-11
Section
Artigos Originais