Popliteal cyst before William Baker: first report in the Galenic Corpus

Abstract

Introduction: A popliteal cyst, also known as Baker cyst, is a benign fluctuant swelling of the gastrocnemius-semimembranosus bursa in the popliteal fossa at the back of the knee. The cyst is named after William Morrant Baker, who is considered to have first described this fluid collection with new sac formation outside of the knee-joint in 1877. We herein present a short description contained in the Galenic Corpus that appears to match to what we now call the Baker cyst.

Material and methods: Α thorough survey of Kühn’s Galenic Corpus was performed.

Results: The 14th book of Kühn’s edition contains a brief review of all the anatomical structures and pathologies. In the 17th chapter of this treatise, devoted to skin lesions, the author states that steatomas appear in the popliteal fossa. However, it is no more believed to reflect the Galenic teaching and is ascribed to Pseudo-Galen.

Discussion: With regard to the descriptions survived and the anatomy knowledge in the post-Galenic era time, the brief report of the ancient text of unknown origin, appears to match what we now describe as popliteal cyst.

Keywords:

• History of surgery
• pseudo-Galen
• Galenic Corpus
• baker cyst
• popliteal cyst
• synovial cyst
• William Baker

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.