The role of the bicipital groove in tendopathy of the long biceps tendon

Long biceps tendon disease is often underrated but plays an important role in anterior shoulder pain. We studied prospectively the anatomy of the bici pital groove and its relationship to clinical symptoms. Sixty-seven consecu tive patients were investigated by mutual ultrasonography and radiographs o f the intertubercular groove. All images were scrutinized for biceps tendon status (ultrasonography) and groove anatomy (radiography). Thirty-seven pa tients (21 male, 16 female, average age 48 years) had chronic anterior shou lder pain, and 30 patients (16 male, 14 Female, average age 46 years) serve d as a control group. In 28 shoulders we found sonographic signs of tendova ginitis, and in 14 we found degenerative changes. The mean age of patients with pathologic conditions of the long biceps tendon was 40 years, signific antly lower than that of the complete study group. The x-ray films revealed a great variation in the medial and total opening angle of the groove, whe reas width, depth, and humeral head diameter showed sex-related differences . Radiologic signs of groove degeneration correlated in 43.6% with biceps t endon disease on the sonogram. Our study revealed statistically significant correlations between groove anatomy and long biceps tendon disease, which should be considered more while shoulder problems are evaluated.