Teres minor denervation on routine magnetic resonance imaging of the shoulder

To try to define an association between clinical history and the finding of isolated teres minor denervation on routine magnetic resonance (MR) examination of the shoulder.

A retrospective review of all shoulder MR examinations performed at our institution over a 2-year period ( n=2,563)

All patients and MR examinations demonstrating isolated denervation of the teres minor muscle as determined by review of this subset of patients ( n=61)

A 3% incidence of isolated teres minor denervation was found. No patient had a clinical history concerning the classic quadrilateral space syndrome, and no patient had a structural lesion in the quadrilateral space.

Isolated teres minor denervation is not an uncommon finding on routine shoulder MR imaging and may be associated with pathology other than a structural lesion in and about the axillary neurovascular structures, such as rotator cuff injuries and traction injury on the axillary nerve sustained during a glenohumeral joint translational event.