Age-related prevalence of rotator cuff tears in asymptomatic shoulders

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 .