2011 Volume 35 Issue 3 Pages 711-714
In order to understand the morphology of the rotator cuff, it is important to know the precise information of the footprints. Twelve shoulders out of six cadavers fixed by 8% formalin were used in this study. Rotator cuff muscles were removed from the scapula. The footprints of the rotator cuff tendons were exposed. The capsule was removed from the anterior end of the supraspinatus (SSP) muscle, which is the same site as the lateral margin of the intertubercular groove. The capsule was flipped posteriorly and the footprint of the articular capsule on the greater tuberosity was exposed. The widths between the footprints of the capsule and the tendons were measured at the humerus. The anterior part of the footprint of the capsule was relatively narrow. The widths of the footprints were 5.6 ± 1.6mm at the anterior side and 4.4 ± 1.2mm at the posterior side of SSP. On the other hand, at the border between the infraspinatus (ISP) and the teres minor (TM), the width of the footprint of the capsule was 9.1 ± 1.7mm. In this area, thick tendinous part of the muscles were not clealy observed. The footprint of the articular capsule beneath the SSP was narrower than that beneath the ISP. The widest point of the footprint of the capsule was located at the border between the ISP and the TM. The evaluation of the capsule would also be clinically significant as well as those of the footprints of the tendons.
