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open access eISSN 2093-3673

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Case Report

Anat Cell Biol 2024; 57(3): 459-462

Published online September 30, 2024

https://doi.org/10.5115/acb.24.038

Copyright © Korean Association of ANATOMISTS.

A bilateral gastrocnemius tertius coexisting with a unilateral two-headed plantaris muscle

George Tsakotos , George Triantafyllou , Christos Koutserimpas , Maria Piagkou

Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

Correspondence to:Maria Piagkou
Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 11527, Greece
E-mail: mapian@med.uoa.gr

Received: February 10, 2024; Revised: March 16, 2024; Accepted: April 6, 2024

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The current cadaveric report aims to present a coexistence of two uncommon variants of the posterior leg compartment. The variations were detected, during classical dissection in an 84-year-old donated male cadaver. On the left lower limb, the gastrocnemius muscle was identified as having a third head that was attached to the lateral head. This variant is known as gastrocnemius tertius muscle and was bilaterally identified. The left-sided plantaris muscle had two distinct heads that fused into a common tendon that was inserted into the calcaneal tuberosity. Knowledge of these variants is important, due to their close relationship with the popliteal neurovascular bundle. Clinicians should be aware, to avoid pitfalls and take them into account in their differential diagnosis.

Keywords: Gastrocnemius muscle, Plantaris muscle, Anatomic variation, Popliteal artery entrapment syndrome

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