Letter M

Meniscus

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The word 'meniscus' comes from the Greek and refers to a crescent-shaped structure.

Today a meniscus is something that is shaped like a crescent moon or a croissant pastry.</P> A meniscus can be an anatomic feature.

For example, the medial meniscus of the knee is a crescent-shaped cartilage pad between the two joints formed by the femur (the thigh bone) and the tibia (the shin bone).

The meniscus acts as a smooth surface for the joint to move on.

The medial meniscus is toward the inner (medial) side of the knee joint, as indicated here:</P> NTER><IMG height=426 alt='Knee Joint Illustration - Meniscus' src='http://images.medicinenet.com/images/ABAKNEE.GIF' width=354></CENTER>

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