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Patella, Femoropatellar Joint, and Infrapatellar Fat Pad

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MRI of the Knee

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Abstract

The patella is the largest sesamoid bone in the body and is part of the extensor mechanism of the knee together with the quadriceps muscle and tendon, patellar tendon, and patellar retinaculum [1]. The bone has two surfaces, three borders, a base, and an apex. The vastus intermedius and the rectus femoris tendons attach to the base (syn. proximal pole) of the patella and the vastus medialis and vastus lateralis to the medial and, respectively, lateral border. The quadriceps muscle is the active stabilizer of the patella. The apex (syn. distal pole) of the patella is extra-articular and is the site of the attachment of the patellar tendon. The patellar tendon, the major passive stabilizer of the patella, inserts distally to the tibial tuberosity and has a length of approximately 4–6 cm. The thickness of the tendon is 5–6 mm and the width is 3 cm at the patellar insertion and 2.5 cm at the tibial insertion [2]. Normal tendons have uniformly low signal intensity on all MRI sequences and display distinct margins [3]. The quadriceps muscle and tendon, patellar tendon, patella, and patellar retinaculum represent the extensor mechanism of the knee [1].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Phoenix Diagnostic Clinic, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Nicolae V. Bolog MD, PhD, MS

  2. Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Gustav Andreisek MD, MBA & Erika J. Ulbrich MD

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  1. Nicolae V. Bolog MD, PhD, MS
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  2. Gustav Andreisek MD, MBA
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  3. Erika J. Ulbrich MD
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Bolog, N.V., Andreisek, G., Ulbrich, E.J. (2015). Patella, Femoropatellar Joint, and Infrapatellar Fat Pad. In: MRI of the Knee. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08165-6_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08165-6_7

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