A bilateral gastrocnemius tertius coexisting with a unilateral two-headed plantaris muscle

The current cadaveric report aims to present a coexistence of two uncommon variants of the posterior legcompartment. The variations were detected, during classical dissection in an 84-year-old donated male cadaver. On the leftlower limb, the gastrocnemius muscle was identified as having a third head that was attached to the lateral head. This variantis known as gastrocnemius tertius muscle and was bilaterally identified. The left-sided plantaris muscle had two distinct headsthat fused into a common tendon that was inserted into the calcaneal tuberosity. Knowledge of these variants is important,due to their close relationship with the popliteal neurovascular bundle. Clinicians should be aware, to avoid pitfalls and takethem into account in their differential diagnosis.