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Home  »  Anatomy of the Human Body  »  pages 342

Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.

pages 342

  An inconstant bundle of fibers, the short fibular collateral ligament, is placed behind and parallel with the preceding, attached, above, to the lower and back part of the lateral condyle of the femur; below, to the summit of the styloid process of the fibula. Passing deep to it are the tendon of the Popliteus, and the inferior lateral genicular vessels and nerve.

The Cruciate Ligaments (ligamenta cruciata genu; crucial ligaments).—The cruciate ligaments are of considerable strength, situated in the middle of the joint, nearer to its posterior than to its anterior surface. They are called cruciate because they cross each other somewhat like the lines of the letter X; and have received the names anterior and posterior, from the position of their attachments to the tibia.
  The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ligamentum cruciatum anterius; external crucial ligament) (Fig. 347) is attached to the depression in front of the intercondyloid eminence of the tibia, being blended with the anterior extremity of the lateral meniscus; it passes upward, backward, and lateralward, and is fixed into the medial and back part of the lateral condyle of the femur.


FIG. 348– Left knee-joint from behind, showing interior ligaments. (See enlarged image)
  The Posterior Cruciate Ligament (ligamentum cruciatum posterius; internal crucial ligament) (Fig. 348) is stronger, but shorter and less oblique in its direction, than the anterior. It is attached to the posterior intercondyloid fossa of the tibia, and to the posterior extremity of the lateral meniscus; and passes upward, forward, and medialward, to be fixed into the lateral and front part of the medial condyle of the femur.

The Menisci (semilunar fibrocartilages) (Fig. 349).—The menisci are two crescentic lamellæ, which serve to deepen the surfaces of the head of the tibia for articulation with the condyles of the femur. The peripheral border of each meniscus is thick, convex, and attached to the inside of the capsule of the joint; the opposite border