THE ATTACHMENTS OF THE RABBIT MEDIAL MENISCUS - A MORPHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION USING IMAGE-ANALYSIS AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY

In the search for a suitable experimental model the rabbit has increas ingly been used for investigations on the meniscus. The present study focused on the morphology and innervation of the anterior and posterio r medial meniscal attachments in adolescent and adult rabbits in compa rison with man. Grossly, the posterior attachment has a similar anatom ical position as in man, but the anterior is inserted more anteriorly and more laterally, with a long ligament-like structure between the os seous insertion and the meniscal horn. As in man, the attachment resem bles a ligamentous insertion and contains zones of uncalcified and cal cified fibrocartilage and subchondral bone. The proportion of the calc ified cartilaginous zone in the attachment increases during maturation as in articular cartilage. Nerve fibres were found not only at the ho rns but also in the uncalcified and calcified fibrocartilaginous zones and the underlying bone. The differences between rabbit and human men isci should be borne in mind when interpreting data from animal experi ments.