Introduction

Pains of the shoulder girdle are frequent, and at the same time it considerably annoys our patients. At present the patients with these types of problems are sent to the specialists of four basic fields – neurologists, rehabilitative surgeons, orthopedists, rheumatologists. These specialists are able to judge the problems in their field, but they mostly do not have a complex view of a possible cause of the problems in the shoulder girdle. General practitioners are in the worse position because they are not able to orientate themselves in a such difficult area, and they are on specialists’ hands and their grace. Unfortunately also ignorance of problems of differential diagnostics is very frequent, and therefore many patients are filled into diagnoses which are rather superstitious, and they show our inability to admit our imperfect knowledge. Therefore the diagnoses of a frozen shoulder or humeroscapular periarthritis, proceeding from several decades old opinions, are very frequent. These are diagnoses rather going by our wish instead of results of new examining methods which can exactly differ the causes of problems. By these reasons we tried to make intelligible outline of pathology of the shoulder girdle with an emphasis on the usage of an ultrasound examination which becomes a standard means in regional hospitals. From other diagnostic methods we are also going to mention another of examining methods as arthroscopy and magnetic resonance. In consideration of that fact these methods are still inaccessible for us, they will be mentioned only briefly, but beforehand we have to emphasize their describing ability which is very valuable for some pathologic conditions.

At the beginning it is proper to thank several persons without whom this book would not come into existence.

	my wife who never believed that I will finish it, and it forced me to do so
	my mother in law - for illustration / after Frank H. Netter M.D. /
	doc. MD. Josef Sobota, CSc., Radiodiagnostic Department, Central Army Hospital Prague, for providing of photographic files MRI
	my chief doctor, MD. Ivan Weidenhoffer, II. Internal Department, Regional Hospital Litomerice, I respect him for his personal qualities and medical intuition, and for everything that he taught me
	professor MD. Jan Stepan, Osteologic Centre III. Internal Clinic Prague, for providing hardware

Rheumatology

Out patient clinic

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Czech Republic

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