The anterolateral ligament is a distinct ligamentous structure: A histological explanation

The aim was to determine whether the anterolateral ligament (ALL) had a histological structure that defined it as a real ligament.

Histological examination of 30 ALL samples taken from fresh-frozen knees were performed. The ALL femoral insertion and its relationship with the lateral collateral ligament (LCL) were studied and the tibial insertion and its relationship with articular cartilage of the tibial joint surface were analyzed. For the ligamentous part, its histological structure and its differences with the articular capsule were studied.

This connective tissue is composed of a dense fibrous core constituted by a network of oriented collagenous fibers. The periphery of this dense connective center is made up of loose fibrocollagenous tissue with vascular structures and focal deposits of adipose tissue. This part was in contact but different to the joint capsule. With a perpendicular orientation of the collagen fibers relative to the bone, a fibrocartilaginous zone with an unmineralized hyalinized aspect, a mineralization front, its bone insertions presented a typical ligamentous insertion. With a cleavage plane between ALL and LCL femoral insertion, the ALL appeared to have a femoral insertion distinct from the LCL. ALL tibial insertion was less characteristic with less organized connective tissue and was at a distance from the articular cartilage.

From its bony insertion to its tissue composition and organization, the ALL has all the histological characteristics of a ligamentous structure. Our study confirms that ALL can be considered a real and distinct ligament.