Osteochondral defect of the glenoid fossa: cross-sectional imaging features

To evaluate the cross-sectional imaging features of osteochondral defects (OCDs) of the glenoid fossa and to elicit a more detailed analysis of the trauma, if any, that may cause this injury.

Eight patients (seven male patients, one female patient; age range, 15-42 years; mean age, 27 years) with an OCD in the glenoid fossa were identified. Conventional computed tomography (CT), CT arthrography, or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed. Surgical correlation was available in six patients.

Six patients had a history of anterior dislocation or subluxation, one patient had an acromioclavicular joint separation, and one patient had chronic pain. Seven patients had anterior labral tears, and four had a redundant capsular insertion. A glenoid OCD appeared as either a multiloculated cyst in the subchondral bone mimicking a subchondral cyst (six patients) or a single osteochondral fragment (two patients). The lesion ranged from 8 mm to 2.0 cm in diameter. Three patients had an intraarticular body. Surgery confirmed an OCD in six of six patients.

A glenoid OCD occurs most often as a result of acute trauma and has a high association with instability, labral tear, and intraarticular bodies.