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Changes in pennation angle in rotator cuff muscles with torn tendons

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Orthopaedic Science

Abstract

Background

Although several authors have reported on the pennation angles of intact rotator cuff muscles, the relationship between their alteration and rotator cuff tears has not been fully clarified. The purpose of this study was to measure the pennation angles of human cadaveric rotator cuff muscles with torn tendons.

Methods

Twenty embalmed cadaveric shoulders were studied. Ten shoulders with various types of rotator cuff tears (tear group) were compared with ten shoulders that had intact rotator cuff tendons (control group). In seven shoulders with full-thickness tears, the area of the tear was determined by multiplying its length and width. After removing the muscles from the scapula, the superficial muscle fibers of each muscle were removed layer by layer until the entire intramuscular tendon was exposed. Photographs were taken and the pennation angles were then measured on digital images. The correlation between the size of the tear and the pennation angles of the supraspinatus and the infraspinatus muscles were determined statistically.

Results

The pennation angles of the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles in the tear group were significantly greater than those in the control group (P = 0.027 and 0.007, respectively). In seven shoulders with full-thickness rotator cuff tears, a positive correlation was found between the pennation angle of the supraspinatus muscle and the tear length (r = 0.854, P = 0.014). Moreover, a positive correlation was found between the pennation angle of the infraspinatus muscle and the tear area (r = 0.759, P = 0.048). On the other hand, the pennation angle was not affected by the presence of the partial-thickness tears in the remaining three shoulders.

Discussion and conclusion

In rotator cuff tears, the pennation angles of the involved rotator cuff muscles increased with increasing size of the tear.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Professor Mari Dezawa in the Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, for her kind cooperation in the collection of cadaveric shoulders.

Conflict of interest

The authors did not receive and will not receive any benefits or funding from any commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China

    Jianlin Zuo

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8574, Japan

    Hirotaka Sano & Eiji Itoi

Authors
  1. Jianlin Zuo
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  2. Hirotaka Sano
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  3. Eiji Itoi
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Correspondence to Hirotaka Sano.

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Zuo, J., Sano, H. & Itoi, E. Changes in pennation angle in rotator cuff muscles with torn tendons. J Orthop Sci 17, 58–63 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00776-011-0176-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00776-011-0176-6

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