Lateral means to the side, away from the midline of the body. The opposite term is medial. A lateral meniscus tear affects the outer meniscus of the knee joint.
Latin latus = side, flank
to the side, on the outer side
lateral
In imaging, lateral also describes the direction of the view: a side view of the chest is called a lateral projection.
Combining the axes makes findings unambiguous: dorsolateral means at the back and to the side, ventromedial at the front and towards the middle.
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