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Prevalence and morphometry of the fabella in cadaveric and radiological studies: Is there a link to knee
Ebru Yolaçan1, Nurcan Ercıktı2, Barış Baykal3
1Department of Anatomy, Samsun University Faculty of Medicine, Samsun, Türkiye.
Objective:
To investigate the morphometric features of the fabella in cadaveric specimens and evaluate its prevalence and potential association with knee osteoarthritis through radiological analysis.
Methods:
In the cadaveric study, 65 knees from 32 cadavers and 3 leg specimens were dissected. Fabellas were measured and analyzed histologically. In the radiological study, bilateral knee X-rays of 1712 patients with osteoarthritis and 2304 control subjects were retrospectively reviewed. The presence and laterality of the fabella were recorded.
Results:
Fabella was detected in 18.4% of dissected knees. No significant sex-based differences were found in morphometric measurements (p > 0.05). In the radiological study, the overall prevalence was 36.5% (37.6% in patients, 35.7% in controls), with no statistically significant association between fabella presence and osteoarthritis (p > 0.05). Lateralization patterns did not differ between groups.
Conclusion:
This study provides the first morphometric data on fabella in Turkish cadavers and suggests no significant relationship between fabella presence and knee osteoarthritis. While fabella is a common anatomical variant, its clinical relevance in osteoarthritis remains inconclusive, warranting further investigation.
