Henry Gray (1825–1861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918.
pages 343
| is thin, concave, and free. The upper surfaces of the menisci are concave, and in contact with the condyles of the femur; their lower surfaces are flat, and rest upon the head of the tibia; both surfaces are smooth, and invested by synovial membrane. Each meniscus covers approximately the peripheral two-thirds of the corresponding articular surface of the tibia. |
| The medial meniscus (meniscus medialis; internal semilunar fibrocartilage) is nearly semicircular in form, a little elongated from before backward, and broader behind than in front; its anterior end, thin and pointed, is attached to the anterior intercondyloid fossa of the tibia, in front of the anterior cruciate ligament; its posterior end is fixed to the posterior intercondyloid fossa of the tibia, between the attachments of the lateral meniscus and the posterior cruciate ligament. |
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FIG. 349– Head of right tibia seen from above, showing menisci and attachments of ligaments. (See enlarged image) |
| The lateral meniscus (meniscus lateralis; external semilunar fibrocartilage) is nearly circular and covers a larger portion of the articular surface than the medial one. It is grooved laterally for the tendon of the Popliteus, which separates it from the fibular collateral ligament. Its anterior end is attached in front of the intercondyloid eminence of the tibia, lateral to, and behind, the anterior cruciate ligament, with which it blends; the posterior end is attached behind the intercondyloid eminence of the tibia and in front of the posterior end of the medial meniscus. The anterior attachment of the lateral meniscus is twisted on itself so that its free margin looks backward and upward, its anterior end resting on a sloping shelf of bone on the front of the lateral process of the intercondyloid eminence. Close to its posterior attachment it sends off a strong fasciculus, the ligament of Wrisberg (Figs. 348, 349), which passes upward and medialward, to be inserted into the medial condyle of the femur, immediately behind the attachment of the posterior cruciate ligament. Occasionally a small fasciculus passes forward to be inserted into the lateral part of the anterior cruciate ligament. The lateral meniscus gives off from its anterior convex margin a fasciculus which forms the transverse ligament. |
The Transverse Ligament (ligamentum transversum genu).—The transverse ligament connects the anterior convex margin of the lateral meniscus to the anterior end of the medial meniscus; its thickness varies considerably in different subjects, and it is sometimes absent. |
| The coronary ligaments are merely portions of the capsule, which connect the periphery of each meniscus with the margin of the head of the tibia. |