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.

Keywords

• Coracoclavicular joint
• conoid tubercle
• Thai cadavers
• trapezoid ligament