Coracoclavicular joint: clinical significance and correlation to gender, side and age

Abstract

The coracoclavicular syndesmosis consists of two separate ligaments, the trapezoid and the conoid ligaments. Close to the posterior border of the clavicle, at the junction of the lateral fourth with the rest of the bone, there is a prominent conoid tubercle which gives origin to the conoid part of the coracoclavicular ligament. The trapezoid ligament originates from the oblique or trapezoid ridge which starts from the conoid tubercle and runs anteriorly and laterally. Both ligaments insert on the coracoid process, with the trapezoid ligament being anteriorly and the conoid posteriorly. [1] The conoid tubercle of the clavicle may be enlogated, having a wide ending which is usually an articular surface that articulates with a corresponding articular surface on the footprint of the conoid ligament on the coracoid process. The synovial joint that may be found between those two surfaces is an accessory joint, named the coracoclavicular joint. [2,3] Several articles have been published on the frequency of the coracoclavicular joint and the geographical distribution of this anatomical variation is interesting. [2-6] However, the literature is scarce in studies which analyze the potential effect of the characteristics of the

A review of the coracoclavicular joint: Description, etiology, and clinical significance

“…Only a few studies considered the effect of age on CCJ frequency. Totlis et al (2018) reported a significantly higher CCJ frequency among individuals older than 76 years (13.9%) compared to those aged 61–75 (3.7%). Despite using a sample that has a documented age‐at‐death for each individual, Harlow et al (2021) chose not to report age as a continuous variable.…”

“…In studies that tallied the number of bilateral versus unilateral cases, roughly half of the individuals with a CCJ had one on both sides (Harlow et al, 2021;Kaur & Jit, 1991;Nalla & Asvat, 1995;Nehme et al, 2004;Totlis et al, 2018;Yammine & Assi, 2015). Chopra (3.7%).…”

“…In studies that tallied the number of bilateral versus unilateral cases, roughly half of the individuals with a CCJ had one on both sides (Harlow et al, 2021; Kaur & Jit, 1991; Nalla & Asvat, 1995; Nehme et al, 2004; Totlis et al, 2018; Yammine & Assi, 2015). Chopra et al (2017) found the lowest percent of bilateral CCJ, about one‐third, among their individuals from northern India while Cho and Kang (1998) report the highest with nine out of ten cases among their sample of Koreans.…”