Postoperative Assessment of Rotator Cuff Integrity by Ultrasonography (US) in Comparison with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) P Collin ; M yoshida; T Jossaume; A laedermann, C Lucas

Introduction Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Ultrasonography (US) are common in postoperative assessment of the rotator cuff integrity MRI remain the gold standart. The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of US for the postoperative evaluation of the cuff integrity compared to MRI as gold standart.

Materiel & Method Sixty-two of sixty-nine consecutive patients (average of 63 yo) with full-thickness rotator cuff tears underwent arthroscopic double row rotator cuff repair with use of suture anchors were followed prospectively. Repair integrity for supraspinatus tendon was estimated with use of both MRI imaging and US at one year postoperatively.

Materiel & Method The US were performed by the same radiologist and the MRI were analysed by 3 MD (The radiologist and 2 orthopeadic surgeons) All subjects were classified into two categories; (1) continuity of supraspinatus tendon or (2) full thickness tear as retear. Interobserver agreement was (95%CI, < ICC < 0.914)

Sugaya I SE Sagittal Coronal

Sugaya II SEIE SE Sagittal Coronal

Sugaya III SE IE SE Sagittal Coronal

Sugaya IV Sagittal Coronal SE IE

Sugaya V SagittalCoronal IE SE

SUGAYA I

SUGAYA II

SUGAYA III

SUGAYA IV

SUGAYA V

Results On the US, 49 patients (79.0%) demonstrated continuity of supraspinatus tendon. A total of 13 patients (21.0%) showed full-thickness cuff tear. The postoperative cuff integrity of US had a sensitivity of 80%, a specificity of 98.0%, a positive predictive value of 92.0%, and a negative predictive value of 94.0%.

Conclusion Our study suggested the reproducibility of ultrasonography for the postoperative assessment of the rotator cuff in comparison with MR imaging. Although reproducibility of ultrasonography mainly depends on the skill of the investigator, it is also reliable tool to evaluate the cuff integrity postoperatively