Histological assessment of the triangular fibrocartilage complex

Abstract

The morphological structure of the seven components of triangular fibrocartilage complexes of 11 cadaver wrists of elderly people was assessed microscopically, after staining with Hematoxylin-Eosin and Elastica van Gieson. The articular disc consisted of tight interlaced fibrocartilage without blood vessels except in its ulnar part. Volar and dorsal radioulnar ligaments showed densely parallel collagen bundles. The subsheath of the extensor carpi ulnaris muscle, the ulnotriquetral and ulnolunate ligament showed mainly mixed tight and loose parallel tissue. The ulnolunate ligament contained tighter parallel collagen bundles and clearly less elastic fibres than the ulnotriquetral ligament. The ulnocarpal meniscoid had an irregular morphological composition and loose connective tissue predominated. The structure of the articular disc indicates a buffering function. The tight structure of radioulnar and ulnolunate ligaments reflects a central stabilizing role, whereas the ulnotriquetral ligament and ulnocarpal meniscoid have less stabilizing functions.

Anatomical relationship between the morphology of the styloid process of the ulna and the attachment of the radioulnar ligaments

“…tached to the styloid process via chondral-apophyseal entheses, with gradual changes from the dorsal in the middle third of the styloid process, to the palmar direction in the distal third. These results are supported bySemisch et al (2016), who reported thatF I G U R E 5In vivo MR imaging of the attachment of the radioulnar ligaments on the styloid process in younger and healthy participants. Locations of the slices are indicated as blue lines (a).…”

“…Moreover, because previous anatomical studies included either aged cadavers (af Ekenstam and Hagert, 1985;Nakamura and Makita, 2000;Nakamura et al, 1996;Nakamura et al, 2001;Semisch et al, 2016) or specimens in which the age is unknown (Ishii et al, 1998;Palmer and Werner, 1981), these anatomical findings might not reflect the morphological features of younger and healthy specimens.…”

Identification of the retrotalar pulley of the Flexor Hallucis Longus tendon

“…Both retinacula showed dense and regular fibrous tissue, with tightly packed, unidirectional and parallel arrangements of collagen fibers (Semisch et al. ). In addition, the retinacula were surrounded by loose conjunctive tissue and blood vessels.…”

Sensory nerve supply of the distal radio-ulnar joint with regard to wrist denervation

“…The study of LaPorte et al (2014) into the triangular fibrocartilage complex (Semisch et al, 2016) revealed further contributing nerve stems for this structure’s sensory innervation pattern. A limitation of our study is that we did not dissect possible articular branches of other adjacent nerves.…”