Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
A 45-year-old man presented with a 2-month history of worsening pain and swelling in his right shoulder. He worked in construction and had chronic intermittent pain in the joint. An MRI showed destructive arthropathy of the glenohumeral joint associated with a large effusion, free-floating calcific fragments, and full-thickness tears of the rotator cuff tendons. Analysis of the synovial fluid revealed hemorrhagic, noninflammatory fluid with negative cultures and no visible crystals. What is the most likely diagnosis?
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A 45-year-old man presented with a 2-month history of worsening pain and swelling in his right shoulder. He worked in construction and had chronic intermittent pain in the joint. An MRI showed destructive arthropathy of the glenohumeral joint associated with a large effusion, free-floating calcific fragments, and full-thickness tears of the rotator cuff tendons. Analysis of the synovial fluid revealed hemorrhagic, noninflammatory fluid with negative cultures and no visible crystals. What is the most likely diagnosis?
Submit your answer at NEJM.org.
#nejm










