Patella alta

The knee joint consists of three bones, the femur, the tibia, the fibula and also the patella which is a sesamoid.

The patellofemoral joint is the portion of the knee joint between the patella and the femoral condyles. The patellofemoral articulation totally depends on the function of the quadriceps. The quadriceps muscles are connected to the patella with a shared tendon. The quadriceps femoris is divided into four different muscles with the same insertion on the patella: the rectus femoris (RF), the vastus lateralis (VL), the vastus intermedius (VI) and the vastus medialis (VM). There is also a tendon that connects the bottom of the patella to the tibia, called the patellar tendon. This tendon is extremely strong and allows the quadriceps muscle group to straighten the leg.