Superior GHL

This ligament extends from the superior glenoid region to just above and medial to the lesser tuberosity of the humerus. [1,42] Its origin is variable, with many variations having been described [Figure 10, Table 15]. [6,40,43-45] It has a prevalence of between 40.7% and 100% [8-9,26-29,40,42,46-47] .

Arthroscopic visualisation of this ligament is poor and it may subsequently appear absent as a result of its subsynovial position, where it lies “…anterior and parallel to the biceps tendon”. [10]

Similar to the one one other arthroscopic study, [34] the prevalence of the ligament in our study was found to be lower than studies conducted with other imaging modalities [Table 23]. [16,22,27-28,30,34-39] This could be due to its subsynovial position, where it lies “…anterior and parallel to the biceps tendon”. [4] This may also account for its occasional poor visualisation on arthroscopy.
 No new variations were noted with respect to the origin of the superior gleno-humeral ligament. The variables of size, shape and thickness of the ligament are all dependent upon the observer’s interpretation. The majority of ligaments were medium in size, rectangular in shape and had a thin appearance. Six examples of a previously undescribed arc shaped ligament were noticed. No other study has commented on the shape and size of the superior gleno-humeral ligament.

Table 23 – Prevalence and absence of the superior gleno-humeral ligament (SGHL)

 Arch shaped SGHL