Morphological structure and variations of fetal lateral meniscus: the significance in convenient diagnosis and treatment

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this study is to evaluate of morphometry of the lateral meniscus (LM) and determine incidence of the LM shapes. Methods This study was performed on fetal cadaver collection of Anatomy Department of Necmettin Erbakan University. Fifty human fetal cadavers (25 female, 25 male human fetal cadavers) were used in this study. Microdissection was performed. Morphometric measurements were performed. LM were classiied into four types and ive subtypes. ResultsIn this study, it was identiied that all parameters which were measured were found to be increased with gestational ages. Four morphological types and ive morphological subtypes were determined. It was found that 12% of the LM were crescent-shaped, 66% of the LM were C-shaped, 14% of the LM were incomplete-disc-shaped, 2% of the LM were discshaped, 6% of the LM were variant C-shaped. Conclusions A few studies on fetal meniscal anatomy and its development were performed. Each new study is important for having detailed anatomy and development of the fetal menisci which will have both clinical and anatomical impacts during childhood and adulthood for orthopedic surgeons and anatomists, respectively. The most important results of this study were the detailed objective analysis of the macroscopic fetal growth of LM. It was signiicantly observed that four morphological types and ive morphological subtypes of LM. The results of the present study related with both the observation of morphological development of the fetal meniscal anatomy, and its morphological variants, are important in terms of improving our knowledge, and clinical approach on the description, and the management of the symptomatic lateral discoid meniscus tears in children, adolescents, and adults. The clinical relevance of this study was that this classiication of fetal menisci could ameliorate our current understanding of the morphology of lateral meniscus in adult, further.

The cause of discoid meniscus: a genomic exploring research

“…Some demographic reports have pointed that DM's prevalence related to race factor, and it usually occurs in Asian and Hispanic 13,20 . In microstructure and histology study, many researches illuminated that DM's bril collagen is different with normal meniscus, which mainly re ect on the quantity and arrangement [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] . Based on clinical reports, discoid lateral meniscus (DLM) have higher incidence that approximate 0.4% to 17% than discoid medial meniscus (DMM) approximated 0.06% to 0.3% 21 .…”

“…DM is not only a kind of morphology variant also a microarchitecture variant. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Meanwhile, familial case report about DM implied that it may be related to genetic diease. 12 A newly demographics and epidemics researches pointed that DM appears different prevalence in different race.…”

Chinese Experts Consensus and Practice Guideline on Discoid Lateral Meniscus

“…7,[38][39][40][41] Morphologically, DLM is broader, the coverage area of the lateral tibial plateau is more than 70%, and the incidence of peripheral rim instability is higher (38%-88%). 1,3,9,[42][43][44] Histologically, the circular collagen fiber of DLM is sparse and disordered in arrangement, and the proportion and distribution of cells differ from NLM 3,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16] (Grade E).…”

“…Clinically, DLM is often accompanied by potential peripheral rim instability, dysplasia of lateral femoral condyles, and abnormal lower limb axial alignment. 1,3,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] These pathophysiological features of DLM enable it to be prone to degeneration, lesions, and retear after arthroscopic surgery, usually presenting as symptoms such as pain, swelling, snapping, locking, giving way, or limited motion. [22][23][24] As the condition progresses, it often combines with articular cartilage lesions or degeneration, and knee osteoarthritis will occur.…”

Isolated meniscus injuries in skeletally immature children and adolescents: state of the art

“…31 32 The precise aetiology of a discoid meniscus is unknown, although some authors suggested that it is congenital, with a genetic or familiar predisposition for the development of discoid menisci. 14 33 34 According to Aydın Kabakçı et al 35 on human fetal cadavers, a fetal lateral meniscus classification was described, leading to a better understanding of the morphological development of fetal meniscal development.…”