MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE INTERTUBERCULAR GROOVE (BICIPITAL GROOVE) OF HUMERUS / 解剖学报

ABSTRACT

The intertubercular grooves of 212 humerus were studied. The statistical results showed that the depth of intertubercular grooves is highly correlated with the slope of the medial wall of the groove (r=0.116, p=0.05, lineal regression: =50.01+9.04x). It means that the deeper the groove the bigger the slope of the medial wall is, and the shallower the smaller. Their functional relationship has practical significance. The normal surface contour of the intertubercular groove is the important condition that keeps the long head tendon working normally. Therefore internal or external causes, e. g. fracture of the surgical neck, hyperplasia of the bone in aged people, may alter the normal anatomical relation of the intertubercular groove, which precipitated to tendosynovitis of the biceps. By observation of the compactness of the surgical neck cortex in three different levels, we found that it is in a transitional zone of from thin to thick, which agrees with the explanation of why fracture occurs frequently at the surgical neck.