Effects of Bicipital Groove Bony Morphology on the Stability of Long Head of the Biceps Tendon

  Anatomy Orthopaedics & Traumatology Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Radiology, Interventional Radiology

  Rasime Pelin Kavak

Now published in Eurasian Journal of Medical Investigation doi: 10.14744/ejmi.2019.16512

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Abstract

Aim: In this study, we aimed to investigate the bony morphologic characteristics of the bicipital groove and to determine their relations with the long head of the biceps tendon (LHBT) instability on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Material and methods: Bicipital groove bony morphologic characteristics including the depth of the bicipital groove (DBG), the medial wall angle (MWA) and the total opening angle (TOA) were measured retrospective on the shoulder MRI of 536 patients with shoulder pain. 450 shoulders of the patients with a normally-located LHBT determined stable, 86 shoulders of the patients with subluxation or dislocation of the LHBT determined unstable shoulder. We assessed the relationship between measurements and LHBT stability and analyzed the cut-off values of the measurements to identify the long head of the biceps tendon instability. Results: In our study, the mean age of the patients was 55.93 ± 8.28 years and 45.1% were male. The mean age of patients with unstable LHBT was significantly higher (p <0.05). In patients with unstable LHBT, DBG was shallower, medial wall angle was narrower and TOA was higher compared to those with stable LHBT. We recorded high sensitivity and specificities for the cut-off values of 5.65 mm for DBG 53.3° for MWA, and 87.1° for TOA to determine the presence of the unstable LHBT. In addition, the incidence of partial rotator cuff rupture, total rotator cuff tear, tendinosis and superior labral lesion were significantly higher in patients with unstable LBCT (p <0.05). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that DBG, MWA and TOA can be used as stability criteria for LHBT. Key Words: long head of the biceps tendon, bicipital groove, the groove depth, medial wall angle, total opening angle, magnetic resonance imaging

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