Rotator cuff arthropathy. what is it?

Abstract

In the early 1980s, Neer et al. [1, 2] have coined the term “rotator cuff arthropathy” to indicate a nosological condition characterized by arthritic degeneration of the glenohumeral joint consequent to the massive-postero-superior rotator cuff tear. However, more than a century earlier, Adams [3], in his book on rheumatic gout, and Smith [4, 5] had described cases of shoulder arthropathy characterized by erosion of the upper portion of the humeral head, of the acromion, and of the distal third of the clavicle and rotator cuff tear. Codman [6], in his monograph published in 1934, had described the case of a woman, 51 years old, whose shoulder underwent rotator cuff tear, glenohumeral arthropathy, loose bodies, and swelling for the abundant articular synovial fluid.