• Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.24-31
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• 2007

Purpose: To evaluate any combined rotator cuff pathologies in adhesive capsulitis patients with magnetic resonance arthrography (MRA) or ultrasonography (USG), and to see any differences in findings between MRA and USG. Materials and Methods: From June to December 2005, 80 consecutive patients with adhesive capsulitis were prospectively evaluated with either MRA or USG. Two groups were randomly assigned for examination. Evaluation were focused on any combined rotator cuff pathologies especially supraspinatus tendon. Results: Small (less than 1 cm) full-thickness SSP tendon tear were seen in 6 patients (MRA 4, USG 2, 8%) and partial-thickness SSP tendon tears in 21 (MRA 12, USG 9, 26%). In addition, supraspinatus tendinopathy were seen in 15 patients (MRA 7, USG 8, 19%). Overall, various SSP pathologies were reported in 42 patients (53%) of the study objects (MRA 23, 68% and USG 19, 41%). Subscapularis tendon partial tears were reported in 9 patients (MRA 6, USG 3, 11%). There were no statistical differences of the findings between MRA and USG in detecting rotator cuff pathologies (p>0.5). Conclusion: Nearly one half of the adhesive capsulitis patients showed various supraspinatus tendon pathology in MRA or USG. Although MRA group showed slight higher percentage of associated rotator cuff pathology than USG group (without statistical significance), this could be attributed to better resolution capacity of MRA than USG.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.115-125
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the usefulness of CT arthrography (CTA) by conducting a comparative study of CTA and MR arthrography (MRA) with the arthroscopic findings in the same patients. Materials and methods: Forty nine patients who suffered from shoulder disease underwent MRA and CTA concurrently. The sensitivity and specificity of CTA was evaluated, as compared to MRA, in the case of four types of shoulder pathological lesions. The accuracy of CTA was evaluated by analyzing the arthroscopic findings of thirty four patients. Results: Compared to MRA, CTA showed a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 100% for diagnosing supraspinatus tendon (SST) full thickness tear, and CTA showed a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 97.5% for making the diagnosis of superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) lesion. For diagnosing partial articular side supraspinatus avulsion (PASTA) lesion, some studies have shown the usefulness of CTA with a sensitivity of 71.4% and a specificity of 97.7%. However, for diagnosing SST bursal side partial tear, the sensitivity of CTA was as low as 10%. CTA has been shown to be relatively accurate when the diagnoses were verified with the arthroscopic findings; diagnosing SST full thickness tear and SLAP lesion with CTA has shown an accuracy of 100% and87.5% respectively, and CTA showed 71.4% diagnostic accuracy for PASTA lesion. Conclusion: CTA was a useful tool and it was equivalent to MRA for the assessment of SST full thickness tear, SLAP lesion and PASTA lesion, but not bursal side partial tear. Thus, it may be used preferably to diagnose shoulder pathology and for follow up as an inexpensive tool after operation.