Arora J, Mehta V, Kumar H, Suri R K, Rath G, Das S
Department of Anatomy, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjang Hospital, New Delhi, India.
Morphologie. 2010 May;94(305):40-3. doi: 10.1016/j.morpho.2009.12.001. Epub 2010 Feb 10.
The present paper reports a rare anomalous muscle in the gluteal region, which appears to be a conglomeration of gluteus maximus and piriformis muscles. The muscle was proximally attached to the gluteus maximus and distally merged with the piriformis muscle. The innervation of the anomalous muscle was derived from the inferior gluteal nerve. Recognition of such a muscle variant may facilitate early clinical diagnosis and treatment of patients with symptoms of piriformis syndrome or sciatica of unexplained etiology. Contraction of such an anomalous muscle could lead to altered biomechanics of the piriformis and the gluteus maximus. Such a rare muscle, which morphologically resembles the piriformis and developmentally appears to be a part of gluteus maximus could be a challenging puzzle for the present day surgeon and radiologist.
