The anterior aspect of the knee joint.

The anterior structures of forty-eight knees were dissected analyzed quantitatively. Correlations were established among the twelve measured parameters of the distal quadriceps complex. Patellar height, width, and thickness tended to correlate with the dimensions of the soft-tissue structures and not with each other. To a high degree of predictability, the shape of the patella correlated with several parameters of the quadriceps complex. The width of the lateral patellofemoral ligament was the parameter most closely related to patellar shape.