Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2025; 35(01): 139-147
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1787667
Review Article

Supraspinous Fossa: Anatomy and Pathology

Sonal Saran 
1   Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences Rishikesh, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
,
Kapil Shirodkar
2   Department of Musculoskeletal Radiology, The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom
,
Sai Niharika Gavvala
2   Department of Musculoskeletal Radiology, The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom
,
Scott Evans 
3   Department of Orthopaedic & Musculoskeletal Tumour Surgery, The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom
,
Karthikeyan P. Iyengar 
4   Department of Orthopaedics, Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals, Southport; Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching NHS Trust, United Kingdom
,
Devina Ghoorah Jevalle
5   Consultant Radiologist, C-Care Welkin, Mauritius
,
Rajesh Botchu
2   Department of Musculoskeletal Radiology, The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
› Further Information
Also available at
   Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Supraspinous fossa is an important location in the periscapular region, which houses important structures such as the supraspinatus muscle and the suprascapular nerve. The supraspinous fossa can be affected by pathologies involving its contents (supraspinatus muscle and suprascapular nerve), osseous boundary (scapular body, distal clavicle, and spinous process), or superficial soft tissue covering it. In this pictorial review, we describe the detailed anatomy of the supraspinous fossa. We have also covered imaging of wide range of pathologies that can affect supraspinous fossa such as paralabral cyst, muscle edema/atrophy, malignancies (primary and secondary), and miscellaneous lesions (myositis ossificans, fibromatosis, nerve sheath tumor, etc.). An awareness of the imaging findings of these entities is essential for a radiologist to avoid misinterpretation and can aid a timely diagnosis.

Keywords

supraspinatus muscle - suprascapular nerve - ultrasonography - MRI


Publication History

Article published online:
06 June 2024

© 2024. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India

 

  • References

  • 1 Rengachary SS, Burr D, Lucas S, Brackett CE. Suprascapular entrapment neuropathy: a clinical, anatomical, and comparative study. Part 3: comparative study. Neurosurgery 1979; 5 (04) 452-455
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 2 Jeno SH, Munjal A, Schindler GS. Anatomy, shoulder and upper limb, arm supraspinatus muscle. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022
    Search in Google Scholar
  • 3 Alsabieh M, Alzahrani M, Almuhanna A, Bedaiwy N. Spinoglenoid notch ganglion cyst: a case report. Cureus 2023; 15 (05) e39279
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 4 Wijntjes J, van Alfen N. Muscle ultrasound: present state and future opportunities. Muscle Nerve 2021; 63 (04) 455-466
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 5 Flores DV, Mejía Gómez C, Estrada-Castrillón M, Smitaman E, Pathria MN. MR imaging of muscle trauma: anatomy, biomechanics, pathophysiology, and imaging appearance. Radiographics 2018; 38 (01) 124-148
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 6 Deshmukh S, Sun K, Komarraju A, Singer A, Wu JS. Peripheral nerve imaging: magnetic resonance and ultrasound correlation. Magn Reson Imaging Clin N Am 2023; 31 (02) 181-191
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 7 Mazal AT, Faramarzalian A, Samet JD, Gill K, Cheng J, Chhabra A. MR neurography of the brachial plexus in adult and pediatric age groups: evolution, recent advances, and future directions. Expert Rev Med Devices 2020; 17 (02) 111-122
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 8 Stengaard K, Hejbøl EK, Jensen PT. et al. Early-stage inflammation changes in supraspinatus muscle after rotator cuff tear. J Shoulder Elbow Surg 2022; 31 (07) 1344-1356
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 9 Khoury V, Cardinal E, Brassard P. Atrophy and fatty infiltration of the supraspinatus muscle: sonography versus MRI. Am J Roentgenol 2008; 190 (04) 1105-1111
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 10 Thomazeau H, Rolland Y, Lucas C, Duval JM, Langlais F. Atrophy of the supraspinatus belly. Assessment by MRI in 55 patients with rotator cuff pathology. Acta Orthop Scand 1996; 67 (03) 264-268
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 11 Goutallier D, Postel JM, Gleyze P, Leguilloux P, Van Driessche S. Influence of cuff muscle fatty degeneration on anatomic and functional outcomes after simple suture of full-thickness tears. J Shoulder Elbow Surg 2003; 12 (06) 550-554
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 12 Zanetti M, Gerber C, Hodler J. Quantitative assessment of the muscles of the rotator cuff with magnetic resonance imaging. Invest Radiol 1998; 33 (03) 163-170
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 13 Choo HJ, Lee SJ, Kim JH. et al. Delaminated tears of the rotator cuff: prevalence, characteristics, and diagnostic accuracy using indirect MR arthrography. Am J Roentgenol 2015; 204 (02) 360-366
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 14 Waheed W, Sneag D. Parsonage-Turner syndrome: fascicular involvement and focal constriction. J Clin Neuromuscul Dis 2022; 23 (04) 227-228
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 15 Al-Redouan A, Holding K, Kachlik D. “Suprascapular canal”: anatomical and topographical description and its clinical implication in entrapment syndrome. Ann Anat 2021; 233: 151593
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 16 Joo YB, Lee WY, Chung HJ. Suprascapular nerve entrapment caused by a large hematoma of the scapula: a case report. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 2023; 24 (01) 589
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 17 Kostretzis L, Theodoroudis I, Boutsiadis A, Papadakis N, Papadopoulos P. Suprascapular nerve pathology: a review of the literature. Open Orthop J 2017; 11: 140-153
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 18 Ahlawat S, Wadhwa V, Belzberg AJ, Batra K, Chhabra A. Spectrum of suprascapular nerve lesions: normal and abnormal neuromuscular imaging appearances on 3-T MR neurography. Am J Roentgenol 2015; 204 (03) 589-601
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 19 Griffin AM, Shaheen M, Bell RS, Wunder JS, Ferguson PC. Oncologic and functional outcome of scapular chondrosarcoma. Ann Surg Oncol 2008; 15 (08) 2250-2256
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 20 Waqar SH, Zahid MA. Ewing's sarcoma in scapular region. APSP J Case Rep 2011; 2 (03) 22
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 21 Riahi H, Barsaoui M, Zitouna K. Symptomatic scapular osteochondromas: case report. Tunis Med 2019; 97 (07) 870-873
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 22 Ropp AM, Davis DL. Scapular fractures: what radiologists need to know. Am J Roentgenol 2015; 205 (03) 491-501
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 23 Rhee SM, Bansal V, Jeong HY, Jeon YD, Jeong HJ, Oh JH. The correlation of the spinoglenoid ganglion cyst size with the electrophysiological alterations of suprascapular nerve and the rotator cuff muscle power. J Orthop Sci 2024; 29 (04) 969-975
    CrossrefPubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 24 Tham SYY, Ng PHJ, Phua SKA, Ho SWL. Aspiration of a large acromioclavicular joint cyst complicated by recurrence and enlargement: a case report. Cureus 2023; 15 (02) e34754
    PubMedSearch in Google Scholar
  • 25 Shyam K, Cicilet S, Philip B. Among the fibers: a multimodality imaging review of intramuscular mass lesions. Indian J Radiol Imaging 2018; 28 (02) 214-224
    Thieme ConnectPubMedSearch in Google Scholar