Muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration in rotator cuff tears: Can surgery stop muscular degenerative changes?

Proton Density Fat-Fraction of Rotator Cuff Muscles Is Associated With Isometric Strength 10 Years After Rotator Cuff Repair: A Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of the Shoulder

“…35 However, repair may halt irreversible progression of fatty infiltration. 6 Nozaki et al 33 also showed that RC fat fraction correlates with the presence of RC tears and that RC fat fraction may predict failure after RC repair. 32 In contrast to the latter study, where both preoperative fatty infiltration and outcome were determined 1 year postoperatively, in our study, quantitative fatty infiltration and outcome were determined at the same time point, 10 years after surgery.…”

Reconstruction of acute distal biceps tendon ruptures with ToggleLoc. Clinical, functional and radiographic outcomes at 5-year follow-up

“…The study was a retrospective cohort study in which the evaluation was performed in patients who underwent surgical anatomic reinsertion of the distal biceps brachii tendon. The study was carried out according to the ethics guidelines and principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (26)(27)(28)(29). All participants of the present study were informed about the goal of the study and approach to be used.…”

Editorial Commentary: Monitoring Tendon and Muscle Recovery After Rotator Cuff Repair Using Diagnostic Ultrasound Demonstrates that Early Repair is Beneficial for Many Patients With Reparable Tears

“…3,9,10,11 Instead, the progression of muscle atrophy can be slowed or stopped in some cases by successful healing following repair. 12,13 Fabbri et al demonstrated that patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair had no muscle atrophy progression, as compared to patients undergoing long-term nonoperative treatment. 12 However, the irreversibility of the progressive atrophic muscle changes associated with chronic rotator cuff tears has been challenged by several studies that have reported on varying degrees of reversal of muscle atrophy following successful rotator cuff repair.…”

“…12,13 Fabbri et al demonstrated that patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair had no muscle atrophy progression, as compared to patients undergoing long-term nonoperative treatment. 12 However, the irreversibility of the progressive atrophic muscle changes associated with chronic rotator cuff tears has been challenged by several studies that have reported on varying degrees of reversal of muscle atrophy following successful rotator cuff repair. [14][15][16][17] A recent study found that preoperative tendon retraction was the most important predictor of improvement in muscle atrophy following repair, although patient age was important as well.…”