[Pathology of the rotator cuff]

In daily practice painful shoulder is frequent. Rotator cuff pathology (traumatic, microtraumatic or both) is frequently involved. Treatment is closely related to diagnosis, which directly depends on features given by the triad "questioning, clinical exam, standard X-rays". In some very precise cases this triad will be completed by more complex exams (arthro CT, MRI). Rotator cuff pathology is diversified: either tendinopathies (calcifying or not) or tears (partial or transfixiant). Rotator cuff tear's natural evolution is a slow aggravation to a final subacromial arthrosis or an excentrated omarthrosis in a certain term which tolerance may vary.