Anatomical and radiological studies of human coracoid process in Selangor, Malaysia

• Main Author: Taher, Manal Fathi A.M.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/70925/1/FPSK%28M%29%202017%209%20-%20IR.pdf; http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/70925/

There is scarcity in the literature concerning the anatomy and radiology study of human coracoid process in the diverse Asian population. This research was undertaken to investigate the anatomy of the coracoid process through developing a new dissection approach to access the coracoid process of the human scapula and quantifying the coracoid process morphometry among Indian, Chinese, and Myanmar subjects. This research further investigates the radiology of the coracoid process via quantifying the morphometry and the regional bone mineral density of the coracoid process among Malay and Chinese subjects. The dissection approach was carried out on 52 cadaveric shoulders; the cadavers were placed in supine position, and both arms were abducted at an angle of ninety degrees, 90°. Then, the skin incisions were made and separated from the subcutaneous tissues. The deltopectoral groove was located and the deltoid muscle was dissected to expose the coracoid process with all attachments. After the coracoid process was dissected from all attachments, the morphometric measurements were taken using a digital calliper and the ethnical differences were analyzed. The results of this study showed that the average value for the length of the coracoid process (LCP) was 41.97 ± 2.20 mm. The average values for the tip thickness (TTCP) and tip width (TWCP) of the coracoid process were 10.05 ± 1.52 mm and 13.34 ± 1.06 mm, respectively. While, the average values for the base height (BHCP) and base width (BWCP) were 15.45 ± 1.26 mm and 24.34 ± 1.61 mm, respectively. Among the three races, the Myanmar subjects had a significantly smaller LCP compared to both the Chinese and Indian subjects (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in LCP between the Indian and Chinese subjects. In TTCP, both the Myanmar subjects and Chinese subjects were significantly smaller than the Indian subjects (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the Chinese and Myanmar subjects. Among the three ethnic groups, there was no significant difference in TWCP. The Myanmar subjects also had a significantly shorter BHCP than the Indian subjects (p<0.05). In contrast, there was no significant difference between the Myanmar and Chinese subjects (p>0.05). The morphometric measurements were also measured digitally using e-Film (version 2.1.2, Merge Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI) in 66 shoulders from 33 computerized tomographic scans. Similarly, the radiological study found that there were significant (p<0.05) differences between the Malay and Chinese subjects in all measurements of the coracoid process except the base thickness (BTCP). The Chinese subjects were found to have a bigger coracoid process than the Malay subjects. Non-significant differences were found between the measurements on the right and left sides coracoid process of all populations (p>0.05). There were significant differences between males and females for all measurements (p<0.05). In addition, the same shoulders were also measured digitally using Hounsfield units to quantify the regional bone mineral density of the coracoid process. The BMD for the average tip of the coracoid process and the base of the coracoid process were 281.9 ± 27.10 HU and 370.7 ± 46.66 HU, respectively; which is significantly (p<0.05) higher in base than the tip of the coracoid process. Among the ethnic groups, Malay subjects had numerically higher BMD in the tip and base of the coracoid process than the Chinese subjects, however, statistically, these differences were not significantly different (p>0.05). Thus, it can be concluded that the morphometry and BMD of the coracoid process are attributed to the ethnicity and the gender.