Congenital bilateral absence of the semimembranosus muscles

Variations of the anatomy of the hamstring muscle complex are uncommon. In particular, absence of some or all of the hamstring muscles is rarely described in the literature. This report presents a case of absent semimembranosus musculature detected incidentally on knee magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), then found to be bilateral on MRI of both thighs performed shortly thereafter. Imaging also demonstrated atypical morphologies of the semitendinosus and biceps femoris muscles in both thighs.