Calcific tendonitis description

• A. Bony overgrowth in the shoulder
• B. Calcium deposits in the knee
• C. Infection of the rotator cuff
• D. Formation of calcium deposits on rotator cuff tendons, causing chronic pain

Answer: (D)

Calcific tendonitis is the deposition of calcium crystals, most commonly hydroxyapatite, within a tendon of the shoulder’s rotator cuff, leading to chronic shoulder pain and sometimes acute flares when the deposits irritate surrounding tissues. The option describing the formation of calcium deposits on rotator cuff tendons, causing chronic pain, best fits this entity.

The other ideas describe different problems: a bone spur is a bony overgrowth, not calcium in a tendon; calcium in the knee points to calcium deposition but in a different location and context; an infection of the rotator cuff is a septic process without calcium deposition. In calcific tendonitis, imaging often shows calcifications within the rotator cuff tendons, most commonly the supraspinatus, aligning with the described description.