Muscle Activities during Shoulder Elevation Are Different in Patients with Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Rotator Cuff Tears: An

Introduction: Rotator cuff tear is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain and disability. It has been known that there are two groups of patients: those with symptomatic rotator cuff tears and those with asymptomatic ones. To date, the difference between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients has not been fully clarified yet. Recently, muscle activity during exercise was successfully examined by positron emission tomography (PET) using fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). FDG was injected intravenously before exercise, and the uptake into the muscles was then assessed after exercise. The activity of any muscle in the body could be investigated without limitation as to the type of exercise. [1] The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in the muscle activities during shoulder elevation exercise using PET in patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic rotator cuff tears.