sciencedaily.com is reporting that “Two knee surgeons at University Hospitals Leuven have discovered a previously unknown ligament in the human knee. This ligament appears to play an important role in patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears.”
It is hard to believe that in the year 2013 a new body part can be discovered but the article goes on to say that, “Despite a successful ACL repair surgery and rehabilitation, some patients with ACL-repaired knees continue to experience so-called ‘pivot shift’, or episodes where the knee ‘gives way’ during activity. For the last four years, orthopedic surgeons Dr Steven Claes and Professor Dr Johan Bellemans have been conducting research into serious ACL injuries in an effort to find out why. Their starting point: an 1879 article by a French surgeon that postulated the existence of an additional ligament located on the anterior of the human knee.”
The ligament the knee surgeons discovered has been named the anterolateral ligament (ALL). It is believed that the ligament is present in 97% of the world’s population.
You can read the full article here: sciencedaily.com