An Anomalous Muscular Bundle Connecting Biceps Femoris to Semitendinosus

Abstract

Anatomical variations of the hamstring muscles are not common. During anatomy dissection of the lower extremities of an adult male cadaver, an aberrant muscular bundle was observed. This aberrant muscle bundle was originated from long head of biceps femoris and merged with semitendinosus. Because the muscular bundle runs across the sciatic nerve, it may compress the sciatic nerve and cause symptoms of sciatic nerve compression. This type of muscular bundle may potentially predispose hamstring strain and hamstring injury. Such a muscular bundle also may cause confusion during surgery or evaluation of CT and MRI scans. Therefore, awareness of this type of variations is essential to avoid complications during diagnostic radiology and surgeries.

Accessory head of the semitendinosus muscle: an unusual variation

“…The embryonic development of the muscular system may result into variations; however, the anatomical variations of the hamstring muscles are rare [5].…”

“…Case reports on the accessory muscle fibers were published for the one Turkish female in 1995 [13] and one Turkish male in 2017 [5]. No such reports were published in the South African population.…”

Rare Fusion of the Semitendinosus and the Long Head of the Biceps Femoris Muscles in a Human Cadaver

“…Aberrant muscular bundles between the LBF and the semitendinosus muscle have been reported [11][12][13]. However, to the best of our knowledge, fusion of the muscle heads has not been reported in the reviewed literature.…”