Association of Glenoid Morphology and Anterosuperior Labral Variation

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine whether glenoid morphology correlates with anterosuperior labral variation. Eighty-eight direct shoulder magnetic resonance arthrograms were retrospectively reviewed. Sagittal oblique images were assessed for the presence or absence of anterosuperior glenoid concavity. Evaluation of axial images was performed, separately classifying the anterosuperior labrum into 1 of 4 categories: no variation, diminutive labrum, sublabral foramen, or Buford complex. In 88 shoulders, there were 13 notched glenoids (15%). In this group, 3 (23%) had a Buford complex, 2 (15%) had a sublabral foramen, and 4 (31%) had a diminutive labrum. There were 75 ovoid glenoids (85%). In this group, 3 (4%) had a Buford complex, 8 (11%) had a sublabral foramen, and 7 (9%) had a diminutive labrum. There was a significant association (P = 0.001) between notched glenoid morphology and developmental variation of the anterosuperior labrum. The presence of anterior glenoid concavity is significantly associated with overlying labral variation, which may be of use in discriminating labral pathology from developmental variation.