Background and purpose - There is a need to understand the reasons why a high proportion of rotator cuff repairs fail to heal. Using data from a large randomized clinical trial, we evaluated age and tear size as risk factors for failure of rotator cuff repair. Patients and methods - Between 2007 and 2014, 65 surgeons from 47 hospitals in the National Health Service (NHS) recruited 447 patients ...

Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair is a reliable option for symptomatic patients who have failed conservative treatments. Limited evidence exists regarding early rehabilitation time points (less than 1 year) and the influence of tear size. The authors sought to determine whether a difference exists in pre- and postoperative range of motion among small, medium, and large isolated rotator cuff tear...

BACKGROUND Several tests for making the diagnosis of rotator cuff disease have been described, but their utility for diagnosing bursitis alone, partial-thickness rotator cuff tears, and full-thickness rotator cuff tears has not been studied. The hypothesis of this study was that the degree of severity of rotator cuff disease affects the diagnostic values of the commonly used clinical tests. M...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to determine whether occult bony injuries or other characteristic MR abnormalities are frequent in patients suspected of having traumatic tears of the rotator cuff. SUBJECTS AND METHODS MR arthrography of the shoulder was performed in 24 consecutive patients with suspected traumatic tears of the rotator cuff. MR findings were analyzed with regard to abn...

Partial-thickness rotator cuff tears are not a single entity; rather, they represent a spectrum of disease states. Although often asymptomatic, they can be significantly disabling. Overhead throwing athletes with partial-thickness rotator cuff tears differ with respect to etiology, goals, and treatment from older, nonathlete patients with degenerative tears. Pathogenesis of degenerative partial...

Objective: Few investigators have evaluated whether ultrasonography operated by a surgeon during a patient’s clinic visit is capable of obtaining a similar degree of accuracy as magnetic resonance imaging in regard to the diagnosis of rotator cuff tears and lesions of the biceps tendon. The purpose of this study was to clarify the accuracy of in-office ultrasonography for the diagnosis of rotat...

BACKGROUND Muscle transfer has been reported as a good surgical option to reconstruct the deficient rotator cuff. The purpose of this study is to report the outcome of deltoid muscle flap transfer to restore shoulder function in patients with massive irreparable rotator cuff tear. MATERIAL AND METHODS This is a retrospective descriptive case series. Included patients had a lesion of two or mo...

Overuse injuries of the rotator cuff are a significant source of pain and morbidity.1 Despite an aging population and documented associations between rotator cuff tears and increasing age, the pathogenesis of rotator cuff tendinopathy remains poorly understood.1-9 The natural history of rotator cuff tears is unfavorable, as these lesions fail to spontaneously heal and progress in size over time...

The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the mid- and long-term functional and radiological results following latissimus dorsi transfer for symptomatic irreparable tears of the supra- and infraspinatus tendons (postero-superior cuff tears). Twenty-six shoulders with an irreparable posterosuperior rotator cuff tear were assessed preoperatively and after latissimus dorsi transfer, using ...

BACKGROUND The study aimed to evaluate of the role of high-resolution ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging in patients with shoulder pain. MATERIAL/METHODS This prospective study included 50 patients referred for ultrasound and MRI because of shoulder pain. All patients were examined clinically, followed by radiography of the affected shoulder. High-resolution ultrasound examination of t...