The development of synovial plicae in human knee joints: an embryologic study

Abstract

An embryologic study about the development of the human knee joint cavity was carried out with special attention to the formation of synovial plicae, using a total of 116 knees of embryos and fetuses. The incidence of synovial plicae in the fetal stage was also investigated. Formation of joint space starts at the middle of the interzone at around 8 weeks of gestation. Multiple small cavitations around the femoral condyle and patella coalesce to form larger cavitations. At around 10 1/2 weeks, the knee joint consists of a single cavity with synovial lining. At certain sites, such as at the medial part of patello-femoral and the infrapatellar regions, mesenchymal tissue strands remain. They may become plica. In the fetal stage from 11 to 20 weeks, an infrapatellar plica was found in 50% of specimens, a suprapatellar plica in 33%, and a mediopatellar plica in 37%. Only the infrapatellar plica showed a decrease in incidence.