To determine the prevalence of rotator cuff tears in asymptomatic shoulders
we conducted a prospective clinical and ultrasonographic study of 411 volu
nteers. We anticipated an age-dependent outcome and divided the patients in
to 4 age-groups. Overall, we found evidence of a rotator cuff fear in 23% o
f the patients. In group 1 (aged 50 to 59 years), 13% (22 of 167) of the pa
tients had tears; in group 2 (aged 60 to 69 years), 20% (22 of 108) of the
patients had fears; in group 3 (aged 70 to 79 years), 31% (27 of 87) of the
patients had tears; and in group 4 (age >80 years), 51% (25 of 49) of the
the patients had tears. An astonishingly high rate of rotator cuff tears in
patients with asymptomatic shoulders was thus demonstrated with increasing
patient age. At this stage it remains unclear, however, which parameters c
onvert an asymptomatic rotator cuff tear into a symptomatic tear: As a resu
lt, rotator cuff tears must to a certain extent be regarded as "normal" deg
enerative attrition, not necessarily causing pain and functional impairment
.