Subscribe to RSS
Please copy the URL and add it into your RSS Feed Reader.
https://www.thieme-connect.de/rss/thieme/en/10.1055-s-00000070.xml
Semin Musculoskelet Radiol 2023; 27(02): 153-162
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1761210
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1761210
Review Article
Imaging of Anatomical Variants of the Long Head Biceps Tendon
Abstract
Anatomical variants of the long head of biceps (LHB) tendon are widely discussed in the literature. As one of the few intra-articular tendons, magnetic resonance arthroscopy can quickly evaluate the proximal part of LHB morphology. It provides good assessment of both intra-articular and extra-articular portions of the tendons. In-depth knowledge about imaging of the anatomical LHB variants discussed in this article is useful preoperatively for orthopaedists and also helps avoid potential diagnostic misinterpretations.
Keywords
long head biceps tendon - anatomical variants - magnetic resonance imaging - ultrasonographyPublication History
Article published online:
03 April 2023
© 2023. Thieme. All rights reserved.
Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.
333 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001, USA
-
References
- 1 Beltran J, Jbara M, Maimon R. Shoulder: labrum and bicipital tendon. Top Magn Reson Imaging 2003; 14 (01) 35-49
- 2 Vangsness Jr CT, Jorgenson SS, Watson T, Johnson DL. The origin of the long head of the biceps from the scapula and glenoid labrum. An anatomical study of 100 shoulders. J Bone Joint Surg Br 1994; 76 (06) 951-954
- 3 Elser F, Braun S, Dewing CB, Giphart JE, Millett PJ. Anatomy, function, injuries, and treatment of the long head of the biceps brachii tendon. Arthroscopy 2011; 27 (04) 581-592
- 4 Alpantaki K, McLaughlin D, Karagogeos D, Hadjipavlou A, Kontakis G. Sympathetic and sensory neural elements in the tendon of the long head of the biceps. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2005; 87 (07) 1580-1583
- 5 Jost B, Koch PP, Gerber C. Anatomy and functional aspects of the rotator interval. J Shoulder Elbow Surg 2000; 9 (04) 336-341
- 6 Nakata W, Katou S, Fujita A, Nakata M, Lefor AT, Sugimoto H. Biceps pulley: normal anatomy and associated lesions at MR arthrography. Radiographics 2011; 31 (03) 791-810
- 7 Zappia M, Reginelli A, Russo A. et al. Long head of the biceps tendon and rotator interval. Musculoskelet Surg 2013; 97 (Suppl 2): S99-S108
- 8 Zappia M, Castagna A, Barile A, Chianca V, Brunese L, Pouliart N. Imaging of the coracoglenoid ligament: a third ligament in the rotator interval of the shoulder. Skeletal Radiol 2017; 46 (08) 1101-1111
- 9 Gothelf TK, Bell D, Goldberg JA. et al. Anatomic and biomechanical study of the biceps vinculum, a structure within the biceps sheath. Arthroscopy 2009; 25 (05) 515-521
- 10 Dierickx C, Ceccarelli E, Conti M, Vanlommel J, Castagna A. Variations of the intra-articular portion of the long head of the biceps tendon: a classification of embryologically explained variations. J Shoulder Elbow Surg 2009; 18 (04) 556-565
- 11 MacDonald K, Bridger J, Cash C, Parkin I. Transverse humeral ligament: does it exist?. Clin Anat 2007; 20 (06) 663-667
- 12 Ghalayini SRA, Board TN, Srinivasan MS. Anatomic variations in the long head of biceps: contribution to shoulder dysfunction. Arthroscopy 2007; 23 (09) 1012-1018
- 13 Welcker H. Die einwanderung der bicepssehne in das schultergelenk. Nebst Notizen über Ligamentum inter articulare humeri und Ligamentum teres femoris Arch. Anat Physiol 1878; 1: 20-42
- 14 Neale RM. The alleged transmigration of the long tendon of the biceps brachii. Anat Rec 1937; 67 (02) 205-218
- 15 Gardner E, Gray DJ. Prenatal development of the human shoulder and acromioclavicular joints. Am J Anat 1953; 92 (02) 219-276
- 16 Tena-Arregui J, Barrio-Asensio C, Puerta-Fonollá J, Murillo-González J. Arthroscopic study of the shoulder joint in fetuses. Arthroscopy 2005; 21 (09) 1114-9 DOI: 10.1016/j.arthro.2005.05.013.
- 17 Yeh L, Pedowitz R, Kwak S. et al. Intracapsular origin of the long head of the biceps tendon. Skeletal Radiol 1999; 28 (03) 178-181
- 18 Smith DK, Chopp TM, Aufdemorte TB, Witkowski EG, Jones RC. Sublabral recess of the superior glenoid labrum: study of cadavers with conventional nonenhanced MR imaging, MR arthrography, anatomic dissection, and limited histologic examination. Radiology 1996; 201 (01) 251-256
- 19 De Maeseneer M, Van Roy P, Shahabpour M. Normal MR imaging anatomy of the rotator cuff tendons, glenoid fossa, labrum, and ligaments of the shoulder. Magn Reson Imaging Clin N Am 2004; 12 (01) 1-10 , v
- 20 Chloros GD, Haar PJ, Loughran TP, Hayes CW. Imaging of glenoid labrum lesions. Clin Sports Med 2013; 32 (03) 361-390
- 21 Dunham KS, Bencardino JT, Rokito AS. Anatomic variants and pitfalls of the labrum, glenoid cartilage, and glenohumeral ligaments. Magn Reson Imaging Clin N Am 2012; 20 (02) 213-228 , x
- 22 Jin W, Ryu KN, Kwon SH, Rhee YG, Yang DM. MR arthrography in the differential diagnosis of type II superior labral anteroposterior lesion and sublabral recess. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2006; 187 (04) 887-893
- 23 De Coninck T, Ngai SS, Tafur M, Chung CB. Imaging the glenoid labrum and labral tears. Radiographics 2016; 36 (06) 1628-1647
- 24 Rudez J, Zanetti M. Normal anatomy, variants and pitfalls on shoulder MRI. Eur J Radiol 2008; 68 (01) 25-35
- 25 DePalma AF. Variational anatomy and degenerative lesions of the shoulder joint. AAOS Instructional Course Lecture 1949; 6: 255-281
- 26 Enad JG. Bifurcate origin of the long head of the biceps tendon. Arthroscopy 2004; 20 (10) 1081-1083
- 27 Wittstein J, Lassiter Jr T, Taylor D. Aberrant origin of the long head of the biceps: a case series. J Shoulder Elbow Surg 2012; 21 (03) 356-360
- 28 Cutler HS, Tao MA, O'Brien SJ, Taylor SA. Trifurcate origin of long head of biceps brachii: a case report and literature review. J Orthop Case Rep 2018; 8 (04) 70-73
- 29 Hyman JL, Warren RF. Extra-articular origin of biceps brachii. Arthroscopy 2001; 17 (07) E29
- 30 Kim KC, Rhee KJ, Shin HD. A long head of the biceps tendon confluent with the intra-articular rotator cuff: arthroscopic and MR arthrographic findings. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 2009; 129 (03) 311-314
- 31 Lang JE, Vinson EN, Basamania CJ. Anomalous biceps tendon insertion into the rotator cable: a case report. J Surg Orthop Adv 2008; 17 (02) 93-95
- 32 MacDonald PB. Congenital anomaly of the biceps tendon and anatomy within the shoulder joint. Arthroscopy 1998; 14 (07) 741-742
- 33 Audenaert EA, Barbaix EJ, Van Hoonacker P, Berghs BM. Extraarticular variants of the long head of the biceps brachii: a reminder of embryology. J Shoulder Elbow Surg 2008; 17 (1, Suppl) 114S-117S
- 34 Tarallo N, Morgano MC, Curti M, Spanò E, Castagna A, Genovese EA. Intra-articular long head of the biceps tendon: magnetic resonance-arthrography classification and review of literature. Pol J Radiol 2021; 86 (01) e93-e101
- 35 Moser TP, Bureau NJ, Grabs D, Cardinal É. Accessory head of the biceps tendon versus aponeurotic expansion of the supraspinatus tendon. J Ultrasound Med 2015; 34 (01) 173-174
- 36 Gheno R, Zoner CS, Buck FM. et al. Accessory head of biceps brachii muscle: anatomy, histology, and MRI in cadavers. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2010; 194 (01) W80-W83
- 37 Zappia M, Chianca V, Di Pietto F. et al. Imaging of long head biceps tendon. A multimodality pictorial essay. Acta Biomed 2019; 90 (5-S): 84-94
- 38 Moser TP, Cardinal É, Bureau NJ, Guillin R, Lanneville P, Grabs D. The aponeurotic expansion of the supraspinatus tendon: anatomy and prevalence in a series of 150 shoulder MRIs. Skeletal Radiol 2015; 44 (02) 223-231
- 39 Griffith JF. Top-ten pitfalls in rotator cuff ultrasound. Semin Musculoskelet Radiol 2019; 23 (04) 429-435
- 40 Goh CK, Peh WCG. Pictorial essay: pitfalls in magnetic resonance imaging of the shoulder. Can Assoc Radiol J 2012; 63 (04) 247-259
- 41 Akkaya Z, Gürsoy Çoruh A, Baş H, Gökmen D, Şahin G. A new significance of an old structure: aponeurotic expansion of supraspinatus tendon and its relationships with biceps brachii long head and rotator cuff tendons. Eur J Radiol 2020; 133: 109374
- 42 Dierickx C, Ceccarelli E, Conti M, Vanlommel J, Castagna A. Regarding “Aberrant origin of the long head of the biceps: a case series.”. J Shoulder Elbow Surg 2012; 21 (12) e20-e22
- 43 Kim KC, Rhee KJ, Shin HD, Kim YM. Biceps long head tendon revisited: a case report of split tendon arising from single origin. Arch Orthop Trauma Surg 2008; 128 (05) 495-498
- 44 Battaglia PJ, Welk AB, Kettner NW. Ultrasound appearance and dynamic evaluation of variant long head of the biceps tendon anatomy with MRI correlation. J Ultrasound 2014; 18 (02) 187-189
- 45 Mariani PP, Bellelli A, Botticella C. Arthroscopic absence of the long head of the biceps tendon. Arthroscopy 1997; 13 (04) 499-501
- 46 Franco JC, Knapp TP, Mandelbaum BR. Congenital absence of the long head of the biceps tendon. A case report. J Bone Joint Surg Am 2005; 87 (07) 1584-1586
- 47 Sayeed SA, Shah JP, Collins MS, Dahm DL. Absence of the long head of the biceps tendon associated with glenoid dysplasia and posterior labral tear. Clin Anat 2008; 21 (07) 728-732
- 48 Maldjian C, Borrero C, Adam R, Vyas D. Nature abhors a vacuum: bilateral prominent rotator cable in bilateral congenital absence of the long head of the biceps tendon. Skeletal Radiol 2014; 43 (01) 75-78
- 49 Smith EL, Matzkin EG, Kim DH, Harpstrite JK, Kan DM. Congenital absence of the long head of the biceps brachii tendon as a VATER association. Am J Orthop 2002; 31 (08) 452-454
- 50 Glueck DA, Mair SD, Johnson DL. Shoulder instability with absence of the long head of the biceps tendon. Arthroscopy 2003; 19 (07) 787-789