Coracoclavicular joint: A preliminary report in Thai cadavers.

ABSTRACT

Rare anatomic variation of the coracoclavicular joint (2.34 %) was found in one male cadaver bilaterally and the left shoulder of one female cadaver from one hundred and twenty-eight shoulders in the dissecting room. The joint was an articulation between the lateral elevation of conoid tubercle and superior surface of the coracoid process. It was enclosed with a complete capsule and lined inside with a synovial membrane. Macroscopic study found that the articular surface on the conoid tubercle was hyaline cartilage and opposed to the fibrocartilagenous articular surface of the coracoid process. The pathogenesis of this joint was obscure, tracing information from their relatives found that the former was suffering from a shoulder pain and the latter had complaint neither of a shoulder pain nor any joint disease. This study is intended to draw an attention of the occurrence of this joint as it has been reportedly associated with the thoracic outlet syndrome.