The glenohumeral joint is supplied by an anastomotic ring formed by branches of the anterior and posterior circumflex humeral arteries, suprascapular artery, and subscapular artery branches. This periarticular ring supplies the joint capsule, labrum, and adjacent rotator cuff.
The glenohumeral arterial ring is the vascular basis for rotator cuff tendon healing — the critical zone of the supraspinatus at its insertion is a watershed between this ring and the intraosseous supply, explaining the predilection for degenerative tears at the tendon-bone junction. Shoulder arthroplasty and rotator cuff repair must respect the ring to avoid devascularisation of the rotator cuff and humeral head.
Relative avascularity at the supraspinatus insertion from the glenohumeral arterial ring watershed predisposing to degenerative rotator cuff tears, the most common location for full-thickness rotator cuff pathology.
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