Philip A. Fabrizio

A novel approach to the dissection of the human knee

The knee is one of the most frequently injured joints of the human body with injuries affecting the general population and the athletic population of many age groups. Dissection procedures for the knee joint typically do not allow unobstructed visualization of the anterior cruciate or posterior cruciate ligaments without sacrificing the collateral ligaments. In many cases, the relationships of the intraarticular structures are lost as dissection systematically removes superficial structures to gain access to deeper structures. The authors present an alternative technique for dissection of the human knee joint that allows maximal visualization of intraarticular structures such as the cruciate ligaments and menisci with minimal disturbance to the tibial and fibular collateral ligaments, thus preserving the relationships of the ligamentous and intraarticular structures. Anat Sci Ed 2:41–46, 2009.

Anatomical structure and nerve branching pattern of the human infraspinatus muscle

The function of the infraspinatus muscle, critical to rotator cuff function, is dependent upon the muscles structure and innervation pattern. The morphology of the infraspinatus muscle has been inconsistently described in the literature. Additionally, the branching pattern of the suprascapular nerve in the infraspinous fossa has not been addressed in the literature. The purposes of this study were to determine: the arrangement of the infraspinatus muscle bellies; the branching patterns of the suprascapular nerve to the infraspinatus muscle; if the infraspinatus muscle was composed the neuromuscular compartments. Forty-eight infraspinatus muscles from 24 embalmed cadavers were studied using standard dissection techniques to determine morphological characteristics and innervation patterns. Results demonstrated that the infraspinatus muscles were comprised of three separate muscular partitions with each partition residing in a thin fascial compartment but all residing deep to the posterior scapular fascia. A first order suprascapular nerve branch was present in 91.6% of superior, 100% of middle, and 70.8% of inferior partitions. A first order nerve was present in all 3 muscular compartments of the same infraspinatus muscle in 62.5% of cases. Second order nerve branches were present in 8.3% of superior, 0% of middle, and 29.2% of inferior partitions. These findings help to determine a more complete and accurate understanding of the structure of the infraspinatus muscle. A better understanding of its structure could lead to a better understanding of the function of the muscle. Such information will enable more effective rehabilitation strategies for injuries involving the infraspinatus component of the rotator cuff.

Unusual fibularis (peroneus) muscle

Routine dissection has identified a previously unrecorded fibularis (peroneus) muscle in a 74-year-old male cadaver. The anomalous fibularis muscle was found lying immediately antero-medial to the fibularis longus (FL) muscle of the left leg. The anomalous muscle arose from the muscle belly of the FL in the proximal 1/2 of the leg. The muscle belly gave way to a long slender tendon that continued distally behind the lateral malleolus and inserted onto the superficial aspect of the inferior fibular retinaculum. The current finding and clinical significance are discussed.