On the impact of calcified deposits within the rotator cuff tendons in shoulders of patients with shoulder pain and dysfunction.
We wanted to prove the hypothesis that calcified deposits within the rotator cuff tendons are merely an epiphenomenon of complex morphological alterations in the shoulders of patients with shoulder pain and dysfunction. The shoulders of 92 patients with calcified deposits within the rotator cuff tendons as noted on plain radiographs were investigated by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; mean age of patient 51.1 years), as well as the shoulders of 28 age- and sex-matched patients with similar clinical symptoms but without any signs of such calcified deposits on plain radiographs. The MRI protocol comprised a coronal, oblique, T1-weighted, spin-echo sequence, a T2-weighted, turbo spin-echo sequence, a sagittal, oblique, T2-weighted, turbo spin-echo sequence, and an axial, T1-weighted, spin-echo sequence. Furthermore, a coronal, oblique, short tau-inversion recovery sequence and a gradient echo sequence were used. The results were compared with data from healthy, asymptomatic volunteers as reported in the literature. The MRI investigations showed no substantial differences between patients with or without calcified deposits within the rotator cuff tendons, but distinct differences between such patients and healthy, asymptomatic volunteers. For patients with shoulder pain, shoulder dysfunction, and calcified deposits within the rotator cuff tendons, these calcified deposits are most probably not the main cause of the clinical symptoms. Rather, it seems to be useful to consider the results of MRI investigations whenever planning therapeutic procedures for patients with shoulder pain and dysfunction, irrespective of whether or not there are signs of calcified deposits within the rotator cuff tendons on plain radiographs.
Maier
M
M
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Klinikum Grosshadern, Munich, Germany. markus.maier@ort.med.uni-muenchen.de
Stäbler
A
A
Schmitz
C
C
Lienemann
A
A
Köhler
S
S
Dürr
H R
HR
Pfahler
M
M
Refior
H J
HJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017006:Rotator Cuff / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020069:Shoulder Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology