The femur head (Latin: caput femoris) is the highest part of the thigh bone (femur). It is supported by the neck of the femur.
The head is globular and forms rather more than a hemisphere, is directed upward, medialward, and a little forward, the greater part of its convexity being above and in front.
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 ligament of head of femur.
If there is a fracture of the neck of the femur, the blood supply through the ligament becomes crucial. In orthopedic surgery, the head of the femur is important because it can undergo avascular necrosis and consequent osteochondritis dissecans. The head is removed in total hip replacement surgery.
Read more about Femur Head: Additional Images
Famous quotes containing the word head:
“It is comforting when one has a sorrow to lie in the warmth of one’s bed and there, abandoning all effort and all resistance, to bury even one’s head under the cover, giving one’s self up to it completely, moaning like branches in the autumn wind. But there is still a better bed, full of divine odors. It is our sweet, our profound, our impenetrable friendship.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)