BASEBALL SHOULDER

Systemic observations, including routine roentgenograms of the shoulders and elbows, have been made on a number of pitchers through two seasons of baseball. Comparison of the right arm with the left was found essential. The characteristic roentgenographic features in cases of baseball shoulder were calcific deposits about the origin of the m. triceps brachii on the margin of the glenoid fossa of the scapula and osteophytes or loose bodies or other signs of irritation about the lateral epicondyle of the humers and the olecranon process of ulna. Other possibilities suggested by physical examination are fraying of the supraspinatus tendon and partial rupture of the origin of the m. triceps brachii. Accumulating experience correlated with systematic studies should help to determine the prognosis when baseball shoulder develops in a player and should enhance the value of preemployment examinations in recognizing the arm that is likely to be disabled by the extreme stress of pitching.