Abstract
Objective To analyze the dimensions of the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), anterior cruciate
ligament (ACL), the presence of meniscus-femoral ligaments MFLs in human knees, and
the correlation with the dimensions of the knee skeleton.
Methods Anatomical study on 29 specimens of human knees in which we measured the length and
width of the cruciate and meniscus-femoral ligaments and the dimensions of femoral
and tibia condyles and the femoral notch. The ACL length was calculated with different
degrees of knee flexion. The relationship between the ligaments and bone dimensions
were analyzed.
Results The length of the ACL and the PCL were similar. Posterior MFL was more frequent and
longer than the anterior MFL. We found the posterior MFL in the 72.41% of the knees
and anterior MFL in 20.69%. The ACL presented 30% of its maximum length up to 60°,
approximately half of its length between 90° and 120°, reaching its maximum length
at 170°. We found a strong correlation between the length of the ACL and that of the
PCL (p = 0.001). However, the lengths of the ACL and PCL were not related with the bone
dimensions.
Conclusion We have found no correlations between the cruciate and MFLs and the anatomical dimensions
of the intercondylar notch and the proximal tibia and distal femur. The presence of
the posterior MFL was more frequent and longer than that of the anterior ligament.
Keywords
knee - anterior cruciate ligament - posterior cruciate ligament - meniscus
