GLENOID LABRUM MRI SIMPLIFIED 3: Buford Complex (not complex at all)

In this third part of Glenoid Labrum MRI Simplified we look at the Buford Complex. If you have not seen Part 1 and Part 2 please look at those posts before reading this.

Definition: Absent anterosuperior labrum, with a thick middle glenohumeral ligament.

MRI APPEARANCE:

The image below shows a comparison of the normal appearance of the labrum and MGHL (top row of images) with the appearance of a Buford Complex (bottom row). The points to note in a Buford Complex:

• The Antero Inferior Labrum is Normal (if it is abnormal then there is a tear present).
  
  

• The Superior Labrum posterior to the biceps insertion is normal (if it is abnormal then there is a tear present).
  
  

• The middle glenohumeral ligament (MGHL) is thick.
  
  

• The thick MGHL can look like a displaced labrum. Follow it below the equator to see if the labrum still looks abnormal or not.
  
  

• The tip of the coracoid defines the level of the equator (see this post on labrum anatomy). Labral changes around this level, doesn’t have to be exact.
  
  

   

• In our next post we look at the Sublabral Foramen