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Case Reports
. 2015 Jul;7(3):179-81.
doi: 10.1177/1758573214558458. Epub 2014 Nov 18.

Intratendinous supraspinatus cyst as a cause of shoulder impingement

Martin Siebachmeyer  1 , Akshay Garg  1 , Karthik Karuppaiah  1 , David Elias  2 , Adel Tavakkolizadeh  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Intratendinous supraspinatus cyst as a cause of shoulder impingement

Martin Siebachmeyer et al. Shoulder Elbow. 2015 Jul.

Abstract

We report the case of a 29-year-old gentleman with shoulder impingement. An articular-sided intratendinous supraspinatus cyst was identified as the cause of his symptoms. Arthroscopic cyst debridement resulted in a good outcome at 1-year follow-up. Cysts around the shoulder are a well described pathological entity. They consist of different categories, including intraosseus cysts of the humeral head and glenoid, paralabral cysts and cysts associated with the acromioclavicular joint. Although paralabral cysts that lie intramuscularly or between the muscle bellies have frequently been reported, this is the first report of an intratendinous supraspinatus cyst with an intact rotator cuff. We describe the case, its management and the postsurgical outcome.

Keywords: Ganglion cyst; impingement; paralabral cyst; rotator cuff; shoulder; supraspinatus tendon.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Magnetic resonance images of the right shoulder following labral repair, demonstrating an articular-sided supraspinatus tendon cyst causing mass effect and apparent impingement on the articular surface of the tendon. (a) Coronal oblique short T1 inversion recovery image. (b) T2-weighted turbo spin-echo sagittal oblique image.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Intraoperative arthroscopic pictures of right shoulder demonstrating a supraspinatus cyst. (a) Pre-debridement. (b) Post-debridement. HH, humeral head; SST, supraspinatus tendon; LHB, long head of biceps tendon. Arrowheads indicate a debrided cyst.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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