The association between massive tears of rotator cuff tendons and severe glenohumeral degenerative arthritis is complex and poorly understood. The theories that have been proposed to account for rotator cuff tear arthropathy of the shoulder joint include severe, localized rheumatoid arthritis, hemorrhagic arthritis, microcrystalline-induced arthritis, and arthritis due to chronic attrition, leading to a massive tear of the rotator cuff tendons. The confusion concerning the etiology of rotator cuff arthropathy is in part due to the fact that different authors have described its clinical characteristics in general terms and have given it various names, such as I'arthropathic destructive rapide de I'épaule, apatite-associated destructive arthritis, Milwaukee shoulder, and cuff tear arthropathy.