Milwaukee Shoulder Syndrome

Milwaukee Shoulder Syndrome

Milwaukee shoulder syndrome is a type of arthritis, a rheumatological condition that is not too different from the calcium prosphophate desposition disease. This type of arthritis is the result of a type of intraarticular deposition. The crystal deposition within your joints will cause the release of the collagenases. This has to do with joint function and a problem with the joint anatomy and when there is a disruption of the rotator cuff.  This type of disease presents radiologic findings and it will sometimes show erosion marks on the “humoral head” capsule, bursa and the cartilage. Although this is quite rare, it is seen far more often in the elderly, especially elderly females.


The symptoms are usually a limited activity and range of motion. The individual will experience joint pain, joint inflammation, and tenderness; there is often positive finding of radiology, hemorrhagic effusion and crystal fluid buildup. The treatment for this syndrome is using anti-inflamattory drugs that don’t contain steroids, intra-artcular steroids, physical therapy, partial arthroplasty or complete arthoplasty.

This is similar to a calcium pyrophosphate disease where there are crystals of calcium within the connective tissue. The joints are often red, swollen and tender resembling a type of gouty arthritis. Evidence shows that this is the result of radiographic trauma; the area that is most commonly affected is the knee joint.

Gout is a type of acute arthritis, and it’s very similar to Milwaukee shoulder syndrome in the sense that it will cause severe pain and swelling within the joint. This will usually affect the food, hand or elbow area and at times the spine resulting in back pain. The gout may come up suddenly and go away after a few days. Gout is different than this issue because it will occur when there are high levels of acid that are stagnant in the blood and this can cause the buildup of crystals, and those will try to settle in the joints and in the tissues.

This type of Uric Acid is usually found within the blood stream, and it is formed when the body is breaking down its waste products. When the waste contains purine this will usually take place, and purine is a substance that is actually produced by the body and is found in foods that are highly concentrated. The kidneys will usually filter this out of the blood and send it into the urine but at other times, the body will produce too much uric acid or the kidneys are not strong enough when it comes to filtering it out.


If there are some other cases such as a disease, the acid may be the reason why there is gout, although there are other factors that come into play, such as the chronic exposure. This is now known as chronic exposure to higher levels of urates and this will allow for acid to build up in the blood.