FORMS OF PRESENTATION OF HUMAN PATELLA IN AN OSTEOLOGICAL COLLECTION FROM THE NORTHEAST REGION OF BRAZIL

Abstract

In the human skeleton, several bones may present anatomical variations, including the patella. This bone is considered to be the largest sesamoid bone in the body. It has a rough anterior surface and a smooth posterior surface, called the articular surface. Its most common shape is triangular. The articular surface also presents variations, in relation to the position of the vertical crest. The objective of our study is to verify the forms of presentation of the patella, analyzed in relation to the anterior surface as well as the articular surface and relate it to sexual dimorphism, in an Osteological Collection in the Northeast Region of Brazil. For our study, 235 dry adult patellas were used, 87 females and 148 males. The sample ranges in age from 20 to 83 years old. These patellas had an absolutely known sex and age and were obtained in accordance with law No. 8501 of 1992, which deals with the use of unclaimed corpses for the purposes of studies and research. According to our results, we verified the following: analyzing the contour of the anterior face, 60% were triangular in shape, followed by oval in 27.66% and irregular in 12.34% of cases. Regarding the articular face, 64.26% had the vertical crest displaced to the medial margin, 31.06% located in the middle of the articular face and 4.68% very close to the medial margin of this face. The triangular shape and the shape with the vertical crest displaced towards the medial margin were also more frequent in males and females. We hope that more studies will be carried out in our population, due to the large territorial area of ​​Brazil and the great miscegenation in this country.