Costoclavicular Joint: An Osteological Study on Clavicles with Clinical Relevance

Introduction The current study aims to detect the incidence of occurrence of a morphological variant of the impression for the costoclavicular ligament, that is a faceted apophysis of the clavicle which participates in the formation of an aberrant joint, the so-called costoclavicular joint. Methods A material of 208 dry clavicles, 107 of right and 101 of left side derived from an osteological collection, was examined in order to detect the likely presence of facet apophysis at the clavicular area of impression for the costoclavicular ligament. Results We observed three cases of oval-shaped faceted apophysis, thus an incidence of 1.44%, two in right clavicles and one in left clavicle. Conclusion The awareness of such a rare joint, thus the costoclavicular joint, is important for the physician, since such a joint may be mistaken for occupying space lesion, induce pain when it is osteoarthritic and decrease the costoclavicular space leading to difficulties in subclavian vein catheterization.