Findings from a study conducted in Korea and published online in The American Journal of Sports Medicine suggest that many degenerative rotator cuff tears (RCTs) may originate from approximately 9 to 10 mm posterior to the biceps tendon. 

The researchers conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional study of 245 patients with nearly full or partial thickness tears. Based on 3-dimensional multiplanar reconstruction magnetic resonance imaging, they found that the mean width of all RCTs was 11.9 mm, and the mean length was 11.1 mm. Histograms showed the most common location of origin to be 9 to 10 mm posterior to the biceps tendon. Additionally, histograms of patients with narrower or wider tears displayed similar tear location distributions, suggesting that the region approximately 10 mm posterior to the biceps tendon may be the most common site of tear initiation. Learn more...