Humerothoracic Positions and Motion.

Angle of humerothoracic elevation

Coronal plane of the thorax

Humerothoracic positions

Postion of the arm relative to the chest

The natural reference lines for describing humerothoracic positions (the position of the arm relative to the chest) are the axis of the humeral shaft and the longitudinal axis of the thorax. The angle between these lines is the angle of humerothoracic elevation. The plane containing these two lines is the plane of humerothoracic elevation. The plane of elevation is identified in relation to a reference plane, the coronal plane of the thorax. Using this simple method, we can define any position of the humerus in reference to the thorax with only two numbers, the angle and the plane of humerothoracic elevation.

The table below lists the average humerothoracic positions for eight common functional positions measured in vivo. The data demonstrate that the humerus functions in a wide range of thoracic planes from minus 88 to plus 124 degrees.

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