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Quadriceps femoris (anatomy)

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  • quadriceps femoris
    • a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh
    • the great extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large fleshy mass which covers the front and sides of the femur
      • subdivided into four separate portions or 'heads', which have received distinctive names:
        • rectus femoris occupies the middle of the thigh, covering most of the other three quadriceps muscles
          • originates on the ilium
        • other three muscles lie deep to rectus femoris and originate from the body of the femur, which they cover from the trochanters to the condyles:
          • vastus lateralis is on the lateral side of the femur
          • vastus medialis is on the medial side of the femur
          • vastus intermedius lies between vastus lateralis and vastus medialis on the front of the femur
        • all four muscles that form the quadriceps attach to the patella via the quadriceps tendon

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