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The metacarpal ligament of the thumb. Topography and functional significance of a heretofore unknown fiber tract of the thumb and its anatomic relationship to the internal interosseus muscle

2000; Thieme Medical Publishers (Germany); Volume: 32; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

1439-3980

Anette Henkel-Kopleck, Holger Schmidt,

Peripheral Nerve Disorders

During cadaver dissections of the thenar muscles of 81 human hands, we found a distinct ligament at the palmar side of the first in 58% ([symbol: see text] 47 hands). This not previously described ligament crosses the princeps pollicis artery regularly. The ligament arises from the base of the first bone in 83%. Sometimes (in 15%) it arises from the trapezium or from the middle portion of the first bone in one case. The primary insertion of this ligament is the ulnar sesamoid. We have named these fibres metacarpal ligament of the thumb. It could be classified into five different types. We think that this ligament is helpful in the stabilisation of the ulnar sesamoid. Besides it fixes the princeps pollicis artery to the bone and therefore it is possible that it could compress the artery. Maybe the metacarpal ligament of the is a rudiment of the interosseous muscles of the thumb or of the deep head of the flexor pollicis brevis or of the oblique head of the adductor pollicis muscle. There is a very close topographic relationship between this ligament and the internal interosseous muscle of the thumb which was described by Schmidt and Lanz (1992) and which was mentioned by Henle (1858), who named it M. interosseus volaris primus for the first time. We could isolate this in 69%.