MRI In Plain English

[Jwalk1938]

I recently had an MRI on both of my shoulders. Can someone interpret the impression in plain English?
Right Shoulder:
1. Under surface and bursal surface tear of the anterior supraspinatus tendon with tendinopathy seen elsewhere within the supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendons.
2. Mild lateral down sloping of the acromion.
3. Mild subacrominal/subdeltoid fluid which most likely represents subacrominal/subdeltoid bursitis but is nonspecific.
Left Shoulder:
1. Intrasubstance partial tear of the infraspinatus tendon as well as tendinopathy seen of the supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendons.
2. Mild lateral down sloping of the acromion.

[Unique01]

There is fluid within subacromial subdeltoid bursa. The supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor abs subscapularis,ate without evidence of partial or thickness tear. No evidence of muscular atrophy appreciated. The acromioclavicular joint demonstrates joint space narrowing and adjacent marrow edema.  Inferior osteophyte formation is present, which can cause impingement. The marrow signal is unremarkable. The labrum is grossly unremarkable. The biceps tendon and biceps anchor is unremarkable.

[jane_smith50]

MRI is a term used in Radiology .MRI stands for ' Magnetic resonance imaging' , it is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to take pictures of the body parts.In your case you had a scanning of your shoulders from each angle  in order to find out the cause of swelling and inflammation on the tendons.If you want to know more about MRI please visit the following site :(Please copy this url and paste it on the your browser)

http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/radiology/procedures/procDetails.cfm?procid=13&id=13&pageid=P07653  

[yellowbean]

1) There are 4 tendons that make up the rotator cuff, one of which is the supraspinatous tendon.  This tendon courses over the shoulder joint and inserts (attaches to) the humerus which is you upper arm bone.  Basically the undersurface of the tendon is the side of the tendon that faces the bones and joints (the bottom side of this tendon), so there is a tear on the undersurface of the tendon according to your report.  There is also a tear along the top of the tendon (bursal suface).  Tendonopathy is swelling and inflammation of the tendon.

2) The acromion is a bony projection from the scapula.  Your clavicle (Collar bone) makes a joint with the acromion called the acromioclavicular joint or AC joint for short.  The acromion sits over top of the shoulder joint, and can impinge (come in contact with) the structures of the rotator cuff underneath.  Down sloping means that there could be some impingement, but it's hard to tell from your description.

3) Bursitis is inflammation of the bursa which are supporting structures surounding the joint, they can become inflammed and irritated, this is called bursitis.

Left shoulder

1) Intrasubstance tear is a tear or strain within the tendon centrally not specifically an undersurface or bursal sided tear.  See above for tendonopathy.

2) See above.

Obviously this is just a description based on your description, and there are widely varying degrees of problems from mild to severe...so it is imperritive that you discuss these findings and appropriate management with your doctor...