BACKGROUND: Idiopathic adhesive capsulitis is defined as a frozen shoulder with severe and global range-of-motion loss of unknown etiology. The purpose of our study was to clarify the prevalence of rotator cuff lesions according to patterns and severity of range-of-motion loss in a large cohort of patients with stiff shoulders.
METHODS: Rotator cuff pathology was prospectively investigated with use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasonography in a series of 379 stiff shoulders; patients with traumatic etiology, diabetes, or radiographic abnormalities were excluded. Eighty-nine shoulders demonstrated severe and global loss of passive motion (≤100° of forward flexion, ≤10° of external rotation with the arm at the side, and internal rotation not more cephalad than the L5 level) and were classified as having severe and global loss of motion (Group 1).
