The relationship between age, rotator cuff integrity, and osseous microarchitecture of greater tuberosity: Where should we put anchor?

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the microarchitecture of the greater tuberosity with orwithout rotator cuff tear and to obtain optimum location for anchor screw insertion for rotator cuff repair.Methods: Twenty-Şve humeral heads were harvested from 13 male cadavers of mean age 58.4 years,including 6 humeri with rotator cuff tear and 19 intact humeri. Six regions of interest (proximal, intermediate,and distal zones of the superŞcial and deep regions) were divided into the anterior (G1), middle (G2), andposterior (G3) areas of the greater tuberosity. Trabecular bone volume and cortical thickness were evaluated.Results: Total trabecular bone volume was greater in subjects<50 years old than in subjects >50 yearsold but did not differ signiŞcantly in subjects with and without rotator cuff tear. Cortical thickness inboth intact and torn rotator cuff groups was signiŞcantly greater in the proximal and intermediate zonesthan in the distal zone. Cortical thickness was related to anatomic location rather than age or cuff tear.Conclusion: The optimal location for anchor screw insertion during rotator cuff repair is either theproximal or intermediate region of the greater tuberosity. Age has more influence in terms of trabecularbone volume loss than rotator cuff integrity.© 2017 Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Turkish Association of Orthopaedics andTraumatology. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).