Bilateral spontaneous tenodesis of the long head of the biceps at the bicipital groove with massive rotator cuff tear on a 103-year-old female cadaver: the natural evolution of the human shoulder?

Abstract

During a dissection on a 103-year-old female cadaver, a bilateral spontaneous tenodesis of the long head of the biceps (LHB) with massive rotator cuff tear was discovered at the bicipital groove. Neer et al. have introduced the term of cuff-tear arthropathy to define severe disorganization of the glenohumeral joint with collapse of the humeral head that occurs following some massive tears of the rotator cuff, and we found this aspect during our dissection. The tendon of the LHB is a well-known source of shoulder pain, and the majority of degenerative changes in the LHB are associated with pathology of the rotator cuff. When there are complete rotator cuff tears and a rupture of the LHB, the ineluctable evolution of the shoulder is the ascension of the humeral head and the creation of a neoarticulation like in our case. This aspect is an acromial acetabulization as described roentgenographically by Hamada et al.