Accuracy of sagittal oblique view in preoperative indirect magnetic resonance arthrography for diagnosis of tears involving the upper third of the subscapularis tendon

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Background

The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of sagittal oblique view (SOV) magnetic resonance imaging grading for tears involving the upper third of the subscapularis tendons in correlation with arthroscopic findings. We also propose a schematic classification in the SOV for upper-third subscapularis tears.

Methods

The study analyzed 364 patients with an average age of 56.0 years. All patients underwent indirect magnetic resonance arthrography (MRA) before surgery. A slightly different magnetic resonance grading was introduced with SOV by musculoskeletal radiologists (Y.C.Y. and J.Y.Y.) and an orthopedic shoulder surgeon (H.Y.R.) who had no information about the clinical data. Subscapularis tendon tear classifications were all prospectively analyzed. Magnetic resonance grading was compared with the arthroscopic findings.

Results

The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of subscapularis tendon tear detection were 0.72, 0.77, and 0.75, respectively, for the radiologists. For the orthopedic surgeon, the corresponding values were 0.73, 0.83, and 0.79, respectively. The κ coefficients for interobserver agreement comparing magnetic resonance grade of the musculoskeletal radiologists with the arthroscopic grading showed fair values (κ value, 0.301). Interobserver agreement between the magnetic resonance grade of the orthopedic surgeon and arthroscopic grades was fair (κ value, 0.377). Interobserver agreement between the musculoskeletal radiologists and the orthopedic surgeon was moderate (κ value, 0.591).

Conclusions

The accuracy of SOV indirect MRA for detecting tears was 0.75 to 0.79. Although the correlation between magnetic resonance and arthroscopic grading was only fair, for most of the magnetic resonancegrading on SOV, the first facet view showed similar results compared with arthroscopy. The accuracy of determining whether subscapularis repair is indicated was 0.82 to 0.83 with SOV indirect MRA.

Section snippets

Selection of patients

From May 2011 to April 2013, there were 692 patients who underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in our institution. Among them, 364 patients (mean age, 56.0 years) had rotator cuff tendon tears (52.6%). An upper-third subscapularis tendon tear was present in 189 patients (51.9%). All patients included had intraoperative arthroscopic findings of subscapularis tendon tear documented in the medical record. The arthroscopic tear classification was performed in a prospective manner using a 70°

Correlation between preoperative magnetic resonance grade and arthroscopic finding

Interobserver agreement between the magnetic resonance and arthroscopic grades was fair by both musculoskeletal radiologists (κ value, 0.301; Table I) and the orthopedic shoulder surgeon (κ value, 0.377; Table II). Interobserver agreement between the musculoskeletal radiologists (Y.C.Y. and J.Y.Y.) and the orthopedic shoulder surgeon (H.Y.R.) was moderate (κ value, 0.591; Table III).

Detection of subscapularis tendon tear (κ, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value)

According to the magnetic resonance grade by musculoskeletal radiologists, the sensitivity, specificity, and

Discussion

Our study showed that the SOV on preoperative indirect MRA can predict upper-third subscapularis tendon tears with an accuracy of 0.75 to 0.79, sensitivity of 0.72 to 0.73, and specificity of 0.77 to 0.83. Although this is much lowerthan detection rates for supraspinatus tendon tears (accuracy of 90%), it is still higher than with any other modality or image cut that has been reported. We were also able to predict with accuracy of 0.82 to 0.83 those patients who required subscapularis tendon

Conclusion

The accuracy of detection of tears of the upper third of the subscapularis tendon using SOV indirect MRA was 0.75 to 0.79. Although the correlation between magnetic resonance and arthroscopic grades was only fair, most of the magnetic resonance grading on the first facet SOV showed results similar to arthroscopy. The accuracy of preoperative predictions regarding the need for subscapularis repair was 0.82 to 0.83 with SOV indirect MRA.

Disclaimer

The authors, their immediate families, and any research foundations with which they are affiliated have not received any financial payments or other benefits from any commercial entity related to the subject of this article.

References (22)

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The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the Sungkyunkwan University College of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center: No. SMC 2014-12-045-001.

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