Shoulder pain in an athlete — dynamic assessment of the rotator cuff
Patient, male, 29 years old, volleyball player.
Progressive pain in the dominant shoulder for three months, worse with active abduction above 90°.
Linear transducer, standardized rotator cuff planes with the Crass maneuver, dynamic assessment during active abduction.
Thickening and focal heterogeneity of the supraspinatus tendon in the critical zone, without fiber discontinuity. Subacromial impingement documented during active abduction.
Supraspinatus tendinopathy · Partial interstitial tear · Associated subacromial-subdeltoid bursitis
Supraspinatus tendinopathy with dynamic signs of subacromial impingement, without a full-thickness tear.
Key points
- Dynamic assessment is ultrasound's key advantage over MRI in this context.
- Absence of fiber discontinuity does not exclude symptomatic tendinopathy.
- Correlation with the clinical picture and provocative tests remains essential.
Illustrative, anonymized case for educational purposes only. Does not represent a real patient and does not replace individualized medical evaluation.
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