Ct. Vangsness et al., THE ORIGIN OF THE LONG HEAD OF THE BICEPS FROM THE SCAPULA AND GLENOID LABRUM - AN ANATOMICAL STUDY OF 100 SHOULDERS, Journal of bone and joint surgery. British volume, 76B(6), 1994, pp. 951-954
We dissected 105 cadaveric shoulders to study the origin of the tendon
of the long head of biceps, and examined histologically the interrela
tionship between the tendon, the supraglenoid tubercle and the superio
r Iabrum of the glenoid.In all specimens approximately 50% of the bice
ps tendon arose directly from the superior glenoid labrum with the rem
ainder attached to the supraglenoid tubercle. The main labral origin w
as from the posterior labrum in more than half of the specimens, and i
n a quarter this was the only labral attachment. On the basis of the b
iceps attachment to the anterior or posterior labrum, we distinguished
four types of origin. These normal anatomical variations are signific
ant for arthroscopic diagnosis and may help to explain the various pat
terns of injury seen in partial or complete detachment of the tendon,
the labrum or both.