Folia Morphologica 2013, tom 72, nr 1

Posteromedial knee injuries are very common and their specific diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis are dependent on detailed knowledge of the anatomy and the ability to communicate clinically consistent standardised terminology. The distal semimembranosus muscle-tendon-unit (SMTU) reinforces the posterior aspect of the knee from medial to lateral via its multiple expansions. Appreciating the expansions and the clinically relevant structures that are associated with each expansion will enable the health care provider to recognise the clinical significance that the semimembranosus has in the posteromedial stability of the knee. The objective of this study was to review the literature regarding the morphology, terminology, and clinical relevance of the distal SMTU and conduct an observational analysis using cadaveric dissection to clarify its morphology and suggest an alternative, standardised nomenclature...

Bronchial arteries (BA) are small vessels supplying blood to the trachea, bronchi, pulmonary alveolar tissue, bronchopulmonary lymph nodes, pericardium, and oesophagus. The right BA (RBA) normally arises from the third posterior intercostal artery, from the upper left BA (LBA), or directly from the thoracic aorta and runs posterior on the right bronchus when the LBA, usually two, arise directly from the descending thoracic aorta, at the level between the fourth and sixth thoracic vertebra, run posterior to the left bronchus, and are referred to as orthotropic [2]. When the BA originate from the descending aorta at different levels they are referred to as ectopic. The ectopic BA may originate from the aortic arch, abdominal aorta, coronary arteries, subclavian or internal mammary arteries (IMA), or the thyrocervical trunk...

The linea aspera is the roughened, longitudinally oriented, irregular crest on the posterior surface of the femoral shaft. This structure is composed of two lips — the labium mediale and the labium laterale, which may be separated by up to 10 mm [15, 17]. A rough line divides it distally into medial and lateral supracondylar ridges. Proximally, the lateral lip becomes continuous as the gluteal tuberosity. In rare cases, the most superior part of the gluteal ridge may form a prominent excrescence named the third trochanter [2]...

The common iliac veins are recognised as the joining of the external and internal iliac veins as they ascend within the pelvis towards the abdomen. Their attitude transfers right of the midline and forms the inferior vena cava. The common iliac arteries descend from the aorta, which classically lies left of the midline within the abdomen, into the pelvis bifurcating into external and internal branches.

Classically, when a named vein joins or merges with another named vein, the newly combined structure takes on a separate name. Often if right and left similar named veins are involved, the joining is renamed the ‘common’ or is given its own isolated name of the two structures (e.g. right hepatic vein and left hepatic vein form the common hepatic or simply hepatic vein). An overwhelming number of surgical and clinical anatomy textbooks and atlases describe and illustrate two very distinct named veins: the inferior mesenteric vein (IMV) and the splenic vein (SV)...

The portal vein (PV) usually terminates by bifurcating into the right and left PV branches. Other termination patterns include a bifurcation into a common left PV trunk and the right anterior PV trunk; trifurcation; and quadrifurcation [2, 11]. These terminations may be extracapsular, capsular, or intrahepatic [17]. Variations in level and pattern of termination influence the risk of vascular injury during procedures such as hepatectomies, split or living donor transplantation, PV embolisation, and the placement of transjugular intra-hepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS) [13]...

Venous anatomy is known to be highly variable. In the lower limbs the most commonly present are two systems collecting blood: deep and superficial. They are separated by the fascia surrounding the thigh muscles, which defines the two compartments of the thigh: the superficial compartment, which consists of the subcutaneous tissues between the skin and the muscular fascia; and the deep compartment, which includes all tissues deep to the fascia. Blood from the superficial compartment is drained by the superficial and “perforating veins”, blood from the deep compartment, by the deep veins. The short veins pierce the fascia and interconnect both systems...

In human mid-term foetuses, it is well known that the thigh is highly flexed at the hip joint (Fig. 1). This seems to lengthen the course of the sciatic nerve from the sacrum to the knee along the extended (i.e. posterior or inferior) side of the hip. Despite this suggested lengthening of the nerve course in foetuses, many dissection studies have indicated the presence of an artery accompanying the adult sciatic nerve (arteria comitans nervi ischiadici)...

The corpora lutea (CL) are transient ovarian organs that play a pivotal role for the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy by secreting progesterone [5]. Bovine CL contains cells with different anatomical features and biological functions, in particular, it contains steroidogenic cells, called large and small luteal cells, originating from follicle granulosa and theca cells, respectively [1, 2]. In the cyclic female, the life span of CL is regulated by complex interactions between luteotrophic and luteolytic mediators [2]...

The styloid chain derives from the Reichert’s cartilage of the second branchial (pharyngeal) arch, which consists of four parts: tympanohyal, stylohyal, ceratohyal, and hypohyal [15]. The postnatal styloid chain consists of the styloid process of the temporal bone, the stylohyoid ligament, and the lesser horn of the hyoid bone [23], which correspond to all the parts of the cartilage of Reichert. Ossification of the styloid chain may determine a number of individual segments, separated by pseudoartroses [23]...