• BACKGROUND
    • Short- and mid-term outcomes after massive cuff tear repair are well reported, but there is no documentation of the clinical and structural outcomes at 20 years of follow-up. The hypothesis of the present study was that at 20 years, deterioration of the shoulder would have occurred and led to a substantial number of reoperations.
  • METHODS
    • The authors retrospectively recalled all 127 patients operated for massive rotator cuff tears in 1994 at 6 different centers. At the 20-year follow-up, 26 patients died and 35 were lost to follow-up. Thirteen (10.2%) had been reoperated. This left 53 patients for personal clinical assessment. Forty-nine consented to standardized radiographic evaluation for assessment of osteoarthritis, 36 patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging, allowing assessment of tendon healing, atrophy, and fatty infiltration (FI) of the cuff muscles.
  • RESULTS
    • The final Constant-Murley score (CS) was 68 ± 17.7 (range, 8-91) vs. 44 ± 15.3 (range, 13-74) preoperatively (P < .05). The final Subjective Shoulder Value (SSV) was 73% ± 23% (range, 0-100). Retears (Sugaya IV and V) were found in 17 cases (47%). Nine patients (17%) had cuff tear arthropathy (Hamada stage 4). The CS and SSV for the shoulders with FI stages III or IV were significantly inferior (53 ± 19 points and 65% ± 14% respectively) than for those with FI stages 0-II (respectively, 71.6 ± 6 points and 73% ± 4%) (P < .05).
  • CONCLUSIONS
    • Twenty years after surgical repair of massive rotator cuff tears, the functional scores remain satisfactory, and the rate of revision is low.