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A newly reported muscle: an accessory infraspinatus or a deep layer of the latissimus dorsi?

  • Anatomic Variations
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Abstract

The infraspinatus muscle is a component of the rotator cuff; the latissimus dorsi muscle is the largest muscle of the back. These muscles are not considered very morphologically variable. However, the latissimus dorsi has more frequent variations than the infraspinatus. During anatomical dissection, an additional muscle structure was found. It originated on the medial border of the scapula, ran under the scapular spine, and ended on the greater tubercle next to the infraspinatus attachment. We will discuss the anatomical and physiological relationships of this muscle. We believe that our finding underlines the importance of different muscle variants in the rotator cuff region. Level of evidence: II basic science research

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Please contact authors for data requests (Łukasz Olewnik PhD—email address: lukasz.olewnik@umed.lodz.pl).

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely thank those who donated their bodies to science so that anatomical research could be performed. Results from such research can potentially increase mankind’s overall knowledge that can then improve patient care. Therefore, these donors and their families deserve our highest gratitude [10].

Funding

The authors have no financial or personal relationship with any third party whose interests could be positively or negatively influenced by the article’s content. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomical Dissection and Donation, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland

    Krzysztof Koptas, Nicol Zielinska & Łukasz Olewnik

  2. Department of Anatomical Sciences, St. George’s University, Grenada, MS, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

  4. Department of Neurology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

  5. Department of Structural and Cellular Biology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

  6. Department of Surgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

  7. Department of Neurosurgery, Ochsner Medical Center, New Orleans, LA, USA

    R. Shane Tubbs

  8. Department of Normal and Clinical Anatomy, Medical University, Lodz, Poland

    Piotr Łabętowicz

Authors
  1. Krzysztof Koptas
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  2. Nicol Zielinska
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  3. R. Shane Tubbs
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  4. Łukasz Olewnik
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  5. Piotr Łabętowicz
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Contributions

KK—project development, data collection and management, data analysis and manuscript writing. NZ, PŁ—data collection, data analysis and manuscript editing. RST, ŁO—data analysis, manuscript editing. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Łukasz Olewnik.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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The cadavers belonged to the Department of Anatomical Dissection and Donation, Medical University of Lodz.

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Koptas, K., Zielinska, N., Tubbs, R.S. et al. A newly reported muscle: an accessory infraspinatus or a deep layer of the latissimus dorsi?. Surg Radiol Anat 44, 617–620 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-022-02917-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-022-02917-8

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