14 DAY TRIAL // While investigating cases where anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears could not be properly treated, a team of knee surgeons from the University Hospitals Leuven discovered a ligament that was previously unknown to science. The finding may contribute to improving treatments for such tears.
Scientist Steven Claes and professor Johan Bellemans, both orthopedic surgeons at UHL, were trying to determine why some patients who had suffered from ACL tears and received treatment still experienced side-effects, such as failing knees.
Starting from an article published by a French doctor in 1879, the team conducted a series of studies on human bodies, using macroscopic dissection techniques to try and identify the ligament. The elusive anterolateral ligament (ALL) was eventually located on the anterior of the human knee.
After having discovered the ligament, the team has started work on developing new types of surgeries to correct any tears that could potentially affect the ALL, AlphaGalileo reports. Details of their study appear in a recent issue of the Journal of Anatomy.