The Femur (Thigh Bone)

The femur the longest and

strongest bone in the skeleton, is
almost perfectly cylindrical in the
greater part of its extent. In the
erect posture it is not vertical,
being separated above from its
fellow by a considerable
interval, which corresponds to the
breadth of the
pelvis, but inclining gradually
downward and medialward,
The degree of this inclination varies in
different persons, and is greater in
the female than in the male, on
account of the greater breadth of
the pelvis.
The femur, like other long bones, is
divisible into a body and two
extremities.
The Upper Extremity (proximal)
presents for examination a head,
a neck, a greater and
a lesser trochanter.
The Head (caput femoris) which is
globular and forms rather more than
a hemisphere, is directed upward,
medialward, and a little forward,
Its surface is smooth, coated with
cartilage in the fresh state, except
over an ovoid depression, the fovea
capitis femoris, which is situated a
little below and behind the center of the
head, and gives attachment to the
ligamentum teres.
The Neck (collum femoris) is a flattened
pyramidal process of bone, connecting
the head with the body, and forming
with the latter a wide angle opening
medialward.
The angle is widest in infancy, and
becomes lessened during growth, so
that at puberty it forms a gentle curve
from the axis of the body of the bone.
In the adult, the neck forms an angle
of about 125° with the body.
 In the female, in consequence of the
increased width of the pelvis, the neck of
the femur forms more nearly a right angle
with the body than it does in the male.
The angle decreases during the period of
growth, but after full growth has been
attained it does not usually undergo any
change, even in old age;
it varies considerably in different persons
of the same age. It is smaller in short
than in long bones, and when the pelvis is
wide.
 The anterior surface of the neck is
perforated by numerous vascular
foramina.
The superior border ends laterally
at the greater trochanter;
The inferior border, long and
narrow, curves a little backward,
to end at the lesser trochanter.
 The Trochanters are prominent
processes which afford leverage
to the muscles that rotate the
thigh on its axis.
The Greater Trochanter, trochanter
major is a large, irregular,
quadrilateral eminence, situated at
the junction of the neck with the
upper part of the body.
It is directed a little lateralward
and backward, and, in the adult, is
about 1 cm. lower than the head.
It has two surfaces and four borders.

The lateral surface, is broad, rough,

convex, and marked by a diagonal
impression, which serves for the
insertion of the tendon of the
Glutæus medius.
The medial surface presents at its base a
deep depression, the trochanteric
fossa (digital fossa), for the insertion
of the tendon of the Obturator
externus.
The superior border is free; it is
thick and irregular, and marked
near the center by an impression
for the insertion of the Piriformis.
The Lesser Trochanter -trochanter minor;
is a conical eminence, which varies in size
in different subjects; it projects from the
lower and back part of the base of
the neck.
The summit of the trochanter is rough,
and gives insertion to the tendon of
the Psoas major.
A prominence, of variable size, occurs at
the junction of the upper part of the neck
with the greater trochanter, and is called
the tubercle of the femur; it is the point of
meeting of five muscles: the Glutæus
minimus laterally, the Vastus lateralis
below, and the tendon of the Obturator
internus and two Gemelli above.
Running obliquely downward and
medialward from the tubercle is the
intertrochanteric line
(spiral line of the femur);
 Running obliquely downward and
medialward from the summit of the
greater trochanter on the posterior
surface of the neck is a prominent
ridge, the intertrochanteric crest. Its
upper half forms the posterior border of
the greater trochanter, and its lower
half runs downward and medialward to
the lesser trochanter.
 A slight ridge is sometimes seen
commencing about the middle of the
intertrochanteric’ crest, and reaching
vertically downward for about 5 cm.
along the back part of the body: it is
called the linea quadrata, and gives
attachment to the Quadratus femoris
and a few fibers of the Adductor magnus.
 The Body or Shaft corpus femoris almost
cylindrical in form, is a little broader
above than in the center, broadest
and somewhat flattened from before
backward below. It is slightly arched,
so as to be convex in front, and
concave behind, where it is
strengthened by a prominent
longitudinal ridge, the linea aspera.
 It presents for examination three
borders, separating three surfaces.
Of the borders, one, the linea aspera,
is posterior, one is medial, and the
other, lateral.
The linea aspera is a prominent
longitudinal ridge or crest, on the
middle third of the bone, presenting
a medial and a lateral lip, and a
narrow rough, intermediate line.
 Above, the linea aspera is prolonged by
three ridges. The lateral ridge is
very rough, and runs almost
vertically upward to the base of the
greater trochanter. It is termed the
gluteal tuberosity, and gives
attachment to part of the Glutæus
maximus:
 its upper part is often elongated into a
roughened crest, on which a more or less
well-marked, rounded tubercle, the third
trochanter, is occasionally developed.
 The intermediate ridge or pectineal

line is continued to the base of the

lesser trochanter and gives attachment
to the Pectineus; the medial ridge is
lost in the intertrochanteric line; between
these two a portion of the Iliacus is
inserted.
 Below, the linea aspera is prolonged into
two ridges, enclosing between them a
triangular area, the popliteal surface, upon
which the popliteal artery rests. Of these
two ridges, the lateral is the more
prominent, and descends to the summit of
the lateral condyle.
 The medial is less marked, especially at its
upper part, where it is crossed by
the femoral artery. It ends below at
the summit of the medial condyle,
in a small tubercle, the adductor
tubercle, which affords insertion to
the tendon of the Adductor magnus.
 From the medial lip of the linea aspera
and its prolongations above and below,
the Vastus medialis arises; and
from the lateral lip and its upward
prolongation, the Vastus lateralis
takes origin.
  Between the Adductor magnus and
the Vastus medialis four muscles are
inserted: the Iliacus and Pectineus
above; the Adductor brevis and
Adductor longus below.

 The linea aspera is perforated a little

below its center by the nutrient canal,
which is directed obliquely upward.
The other two borders of the femur
are only slightly marked: the lateral
border extends from the antero-inferior
angle of the greater trochanter to the
anterior extremity of the lateral condyle
the medial border from the inter-
trochanteric line, at a point opposite
the lesser trochanter, to the anterior
extremity of the medial condyle.
 The anterior surface includes that
portion of the shaft which is situated
between the lateral and medial
borders.
 It is smooth, convex, broader above

and below than in the center.

From the upper three-fourths of this
surface the Vastus intermedius
arises;
 The lateral surface includes the portion
between the lateral border and the linea
aspera; it is continuous above with
the corresponding surface of the
greater trochanter, below with that
of the lateral condyle:
from its upper three-fourths the
Vastus intermedius takes origin.
 The medial surface includes the portion
between the medial border and the linea
aspera; it is continuous above with
the lower border of the neck, below
with the medial side of the medial
condyle: it is covered by the Vastus
medialis.
 The Lower Extremity (distal extremity)
larger than the upper, is somewhat
cuboid in form, but its transverse
diameter is greater than its antero-
posterior; it consists of two
oblong eminences
known as the condyles.
In front, the condyles are but slightly
prominent, and are separated from
one another by a smooth shallow
articular depression called the patellar
surface;
behind, they project considerably,
and the interval between them
forms a deep notch, the
intercondyloid fossa.
 The lateral condyle is the more prominent
and is the broader both in its antero-
posterior and transverse diameters,
 the medial condyle is the longer and,

when the femur is held with its body

perpendicular, projects to a lower
level. When, however, the femur is in
its natural oblique position the lower
surfaces of the two condyles lie
practically in the same horizontal plane.
 The condyles are not quite parallel with
one another; the long axis of the
lateral is almost directly antero-
posterior, but that of the medial runs
backward and medialward.
 Their opposed surfaces are small,
rough, and concave, and form the walls
of the intercondyloid fossa.
 This fossa is limited above by a ridge,
the intercondyloid line, and below by
the central part of the posterior margin
of the patellar surface.
 The posterior cruciate ligament of the
knee-joint is attached to the lower and
front part of the medial wall of the
fossa and the anterior cruciate ligament
to an impression on the upper and back
part of its lateral wall.
 Each condyle is surmounted by an
elevation, the epicondyle.
 The medial epicondyle is a large
convex eminence to which the tibial
collateral ligament of the knee-joint
is attached.
 At its upper part is the adductor
tubercle, already referred to, and
behind it is a rough impression
which gives origin to the medial
head of the Gastrocnemius.
 The lateral epicondyle, smaller and less
prominent than the medial, gives
attachment to the fibular collateral
ligament of the knee-joint.
 Directly below it is a small depression
from which a smooth well-marked groove
curves obliquely upward and backward to
the posterior extremity of the condyle.
 The articular surface of the lower end of
the femur occupies the anterior, inferior,
and posterior surfaces of the condyles.
 Its front part is named the patellar
surface and articulates with the patella; it
presents a median groove which extends
downward to the intercondyloid fossa
and two convexities, the lateral of which
is broader, more prominent, and extends
farther upward than the medial.
 The lower and posterior parts of the
articular surface constitute the
tibial surfaces for articulation
with the corresponding condyles
of the tibia and menisci.
 These surfaces are separated from one
another by the intercondyloid fossa and
from the patellar surface by faint
grooves which extend obliquely
across the condyles.
The lateral groove is the better
marked; it runs lateralward and
forward from the front part of the
intercondyloid fossa, and expands
to form a triangular depression.
 When the knee-joint is fully
extended, the triangular depression
rests upon the anterior portion of
the lateral meniscus, and the medial
part of the groove comes into
contact with the medial margin of
the lateral articular surface of the
tibia in front of the lateral tubercle
of the tibial intercondyloid
eminence.
 The medial groove is less distinct than
the lateral. It does not reach as far as
the intercondyloid fossa and therefore
exists only on the medial part of the
condyle; it receives the anterior edge of
the medial meniscus when the knee-
joint is extended.
 The tibial surfaces of the condyles are
convex from side to side and from
before backward. Each presents a
double curve, its posterior segment
being an arc of a circle, its anterior,
part of a cycloid.
Ossification
The femur is ossified from five centers:
one for the body, one for the head,
one for each trochanter, and one for
the lower extremity.
Of all the long bones, except the
clavicle, it is the first to show traces
of ossification; this commences in the
middle of the body, at about the
seventh week of fetal life, and rapidly
extends upward and downward.
 The centers in the epiphyses appear
in the following order: in the lower
end of the bone, at the 9th month of
fetal life in the head, at the end of
the 1st year after birth; in the
greater trochanter, during the 4th
year; and in the lesser trochanter,
between the 13th and 14th years.
 The order in which the epiphyses
are joined to the body is the
reverse of that of their appearance;
they are not united until after
puberty, the lesser trochanter
being first joined, then the greater,
then the head, and, lastly, the
inferior extremity, which is not
united until the 20th year.