Does scapular morphology affect the integrity of the rotator cuff?

Rotator cuff pathology: state of the art

“…A score >10 predicts posterosuperior rotator cuff tear with a sensitivity 84% and specificity of 81% 36. Other studies confirmed the CSA as a predictor for rotator cuff tear27 and associated higher CSA values with massive rotator cuff with tear of more than one muscle 48. Furthermore, a CSA measurement >38° was associated with a 15 times higher risk of retear after rotator cuff repair 49.…”

“…Normal shoulders have a CSA that lies between 30° and 35° (grade 2) and a CSA <30° (grade 1) is associated with a higher rate of osteoarthritis 35. The CSA measurement strongly correlates with the AI measurement27 and was shown to have a higher sensitivity and specificity than other measurements of acromion morphology to detect rotator cuff tear 36 37. Recent studies confirmed the significantly higher CSA in patients with rotator cuff tear (RCT), although they questioned the classification of CSA in RCT to be >35° 38 39…”

Diagnostic performance of susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for the assessment of sub-coracoacromial spurs causing subacromial impingement syndrome

“…However, its utility for other rotator cuff disorders, shoulder impingement syndrome, subacromial bursitis and detection of bony spurs is less well established and often requires additional imaging techniques such as radiographs and/or MRI [34,35]. Therefore, ultrasound of the shoulder is not performed in all MSK centres and can be associated with limitations including: 1) Dependence on operator experience and acoustic window; and 2) Limited reproducibility and standardization.…”

Effects of glenoid inclination and acromion index on humeral head translation and glenoid articular cartilage strain

“…This association was partly disputed by other research groups. 1,16,30 The critical shoulder angle (CSA), combining both GI and AI, was later proposed by Moor et al 27 ( Fig. 1).…”

“…The relative importance of these 3 anatomic parameters and their hypothetical effects on tendon tears or osteoarthritis are indeed still controversial. 1,16,30 Therefore, the goal of this work was to evaluate the independent and combined biomechanical effects of 3 anatomic parameters (namely GI, AI, and CSA) on glenoid articular cartilage strain and humeral head translation. To investigate this question, we used a numerical shoulder model and varied independently GI and AI for testing any correlation between those quantities.…”