Morphological variability of the leg muscles: potential pitfalls on ultrasound that await clinicians.

BACKGROUND

Although muscles and their tendons are not considered the most morphologically variable structures, they still manifest a substantial diversity of variants. The aim of this study is to increase awareness of some of the many possible variants found during ultrasound imaging of one lower limb compartment, the leg, that could potentially mislead clinicians and lead to misdiagnosis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

PubMed was used for a comprehensive literature search for morphological variations. Relevant papers were included, and citation tracking was used to identify further publications.

RESULTS

Several morphological variants of muscles of the leg have been described over many years, but this study shows that the occurrence of further variations in ultrasound imaging requires further investigations.

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of additional structures including muscles and tendons during ultrasound examination can cause confusion and lead to misinterpretation of images, misdiagnosis, and the introduction of unnecessary and inappropriate treatments.