Rupture of the long head of the biceps is not uncommon. We encountered six cases with seven tendons of the lesion in last one year. In three cases ruptures were caused by acute trauma. One of them had frequent injection of steroid hormone into the tendon sheath previous to the trauma. Three cases of the rest were spontaneous ruptures included a case with bilateral lesions and rupture of the rotator cuff.
The diagnosis can be readily made from the history, symptoms and signs. Specially on inspection the swelling of the muscle belly is prominent on contraction.
Surgical repair of the tendon either by suture to the bicipital groove or to the major pectral muscle or to the short head of the biceps obtained the satisfactory results. None of the procedure was done to the proximal cut end, but no trouble observed.
Cases left non-treated presented any inconvenience in daily life. A case with massive avulsion of the rotator cuff showed marked degenerative periarthritic changes.