A thorough understanding of the architecture of the knee extensor mechanism is of clinical importance. The quadriceps tendon is involved in many orthopaedic procedures around the knee joint including surgical approaches (Apostolopoulos et al. 2010; Koninckx et al. 2014; Rossi et al. 2014), tendon injuries (Rehman & Kovacs 2015) or harvesting as a tendon graft (Geib et al. 2009; Kim et al. 2009; Lund et al. 2014; Noyes & Albright 2006). Patellar problems are also common after total knee arthroplasty (Russell et al. 2014). A better understanding of the quadriceps tendon anatomy is therefore fundamental for an improvement in surgical techniques and for the radiological interpretation of a traumatized extensor apparatus of the knee joint (Yablon et al. 2014; Zeiss et al. 1992).