Abstract
The present work aims to provide more anatomical information on the stifle joint of
the investigated species using computed tomography with gross anatomical cross-sections.
The current work analyzed the stifle joint of the pelvic limbs of 12 adult donkeys,
goats and dogs of both genders. The medial condyle of the femur was larger than the
lateral one in the donkey, while it was smaller and lower than the lateral one in
the goat and in the dog. The unsuitable femoral and tibial condyles were adapted by
the presence of menisci. In the donkey, the medial meniscus was crescentic in shape,
but it was semicircular in the goat, while in the dog, the medial and lateral menisci
were C-shaped. In the donkey, the medial meniscus was larger than the lateral one,
but in the goat and in the dog, the lateral meniscus was the largest, and more concave
and thicker. The lateral meniscus was semicircular in the donkey, but it was shaped
like an elongated kidney in the goat. In the goat and in the dog, the central border
of two menisci was thin, concave and notched centrally. The meniscal ligaments included
cranial and caudal ligaments of the medial and lateral menisci, and meniscofemoral
ligament of the lateral meniscus. In the dog, the cranial ligament of the medial meniscus
was absent, and the medial meniscus had no bony attachment to the tibia but it attached
to the transverse intermeniscal ligament, which connected the cranial horn of the
medial meniscus with the cranial ligament of the lateral meniscus. The meniscofemoral
ligament connected the caudal pole of the lateral meniscus with the intercondyloid
fossa of the femur.
Keywords
stifle joint - meniscal ligaments - computed tomography - anatomical sections
