Biomaterial Database

The meniscofemoral ligaments influence lateral meniscal motion at the human knee joint. 2011

Ashley Poynton, and Cathal J Moran, and Ray Moran, and Moira O'Brien

Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the meniscofemoral ligaments on lateral meniscal motion during flexion and extension of the human knee joint. METHODS A cadaveric biomechanical study was performed. The effect of meniscofemoral ligament tension on the dynamics of the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus was determined by image analysis. RESULTS We found that the meniscofemoral ligaments functioned in a reciprocal manner, with the anterior meniscofemoral ligament developing tension with flexion and the posterior meniscofemoral ligament tensioning with extension. Analysis of posterior horn motion showed that the meniscofemoral ligaments caused a medial, superior, and anterior displacement of the posterior horn throughout knee motion, thus increasing the congruity of the posterior meniscal arch and the lateral femoral condyle. There was a significant correlation between meniscofemoral ligament tension and displacement of the posterior meniscal horn (r = 0.76, P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS Where both meniscofemoral ligaments were present, the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus was subject to a displacing force throughout the range of knee motion tested. The degree of displacement correlated with the magnitude of ligament tension, and its direction was anteromedial and superior. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study provide further information on the role of the meniscofemoral ligaments at the human knee joint and may influence decisions regarding the management of ligamentous or lateral meniscal injury.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007719	Knee Joint	A synovial hinge connection formed between the bones of the FEMUR; TIBIA; and PATELLA.	Superior Tibiofibular Joint,Joint, Knee,Joint, Superior Tibiofibular,Knee Joints,Superior Tibiofibular Joints,Tibiofibular Joint, Superior
D008023	Ligaments, Articular	Fibrous cords of CONNECTIVE TISSUE that attach bones to each other and hold together the many types of joints in the body. Articular ligaments are strong, elastic, and allow movement in only specific directions, depending on the individual joint.	Articular Ligament,Articular Ligaments,Ligament, Articular
D008592	Menisci, Tibial	The interarticular fibrocartilages of the superior surface of the tibia.	Lateral Menisci,Medial Menisci,Menisci, Lateral,Menisci, Medial,Semilunar Cartilages,Tibial Menisci,Meniscus, Medial,Meniscus, Tibial,Tibial Meniscus,Cartilage, Semilunar,Cartilages, Semilunar,Lateral Meniscus,Medial Meniscus,Meniscus, Lateral,Semilunar Cartilage
D002102	Cadaver	A dead body, usually a human body.	Corpse,Cadavers,Corpses
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000704	Analysis of Variance	A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable.	ANOVA,Analysis, Variance,Variance Analysis,Analyses, Variance,Variance Analyses
D001696	Biomechanical Phenomena	The properties, processes, and behavior of biological systems under the action of mechanical forces.	Biomechanics,Kinematics,Biomechanic Phenomena,Mechanobiological Phenomena,Biomechanic,Biomechanic Phenomenas,Phenomena, Biomechanic,Phenomena, Biomechanical,Phenomena, Mechanobiological,Phenomenas, Biomechanic
D016059	Range of Motion, Articular	The distance and direction to which a bone joint can be extended. Range of motion is a function of the condition of the joints, muscles, and connective tissues involved. Joint flexibility can be improved through appropriate MUSCLE STRETCHING EXERCISES.	Passive Range of Motion,Joint Flexibility,Joint Range of Motion,Range of Motion,Flexibility, Joint
D018709	Statistics, Nonparametric	A class of statistical methods applicable to a large set of probability distributions used to test for correlation, location, independence, etc. In most nonparametric statistical tests, the original scores or observations are replaced by another variable containing less information. An important class of nonparametric tests employs the ordinal properties of the data. Another class of tests uses information about whether an observation is above or below some fixed value such as the median, and a third class is based on the frequency of the occurrence of runs in the data. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed, p1284; Corsini, Concise Encyclopedia of Psychology, 1987, p764-5)	Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test,Kruskal-Wallis H Statistic,Mann-Whitney U Test,Rank-Sum Tests,Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient,Wilcox Test,Wilcoxon Rank Test,Non-Parametric Statistics,Nonparametric Statistics,Statistics, Non-Parametric,Kolmogorov Smirnov Test,Mann Whitney U Test,Non Parametric Statistics,Rank Sum Tests,Rank Test, Wilcoxon,Rank-Sum Test,Statistics, Non Parametric,Test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov,Test, Mann-Whitney U,Test, Rank-Sum,Test, Wilcox,Test, Wilcoxon Rank,Tests, Rank-Sum,U Test, Mann-Whitney