Correlation of the depth, medial wall and opening angle of the bicipital groove and the dimensions of long head of the biceps tendon

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the morphological measurements of bicipital groove and long head of biceps tendon and determine the effect of age and gender on these measurements. Methods: The study included 110 patients (60 females, 50 males) aged 18–50 years, who underwent magnetic resonance imaging of the left shoulder between January and December 2020. The patients had stable biceps tendons, and did not have a rotator cuff tear. The bicipital groove morphology was evaluated based on depth, opening angle, medial wall angle and the biceps tendon morphology was assessed based on thickness (anteroposterior length) and width (transverse length). Results: There was no difference between the females and males in terms of age, opening angle and medial wall angle (p>.05). The bicipital groove depth was lower in the females than in the males (p<.001), while the biceps tendon was thicker in the males compared to the females (p<.001). There was no correlation between age and the sizes of bicipital groove and the biceps tendon. A negative correlation was observed between the bicipital groove depth and opening angle (r=-0.55), and a positive correlation between medial wall angle (r=0.51), tendon thickness (r=0.50) and tendon width (r=0.34). Bicipital groove depth had a positive correlation with tendon thickness (r=0.54) in women and tendon width in men (r=0.28). Conclusion: The morphological measurements of bicipital groove and the biceps tendon showed correlations. There were also gender differences in these morphological measurements.