Comparison of Sonography and MRI in Diagnosis of Rotator Cuff Injuries

Background and Objectives: Rotator cuff injuries are problems commonly encountered in athletic and non-athletic patients. Its definite diagnosis is also important. Accordingly, this study was performed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of ultra-sonography (US) compared with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in cases with suspicion of rotator cuff injuries. Methods and materials: In this prospective comparative study, 130 patients who had undergone shoulder arthroscopy and open rotator cuff repairing and confirm rotator cuff tears have been enrolled and evaluated with both ultrasonography and MRI methods. Results: The overall sensitivity (95% confidence interval[CI]) of US was 87.64% (78.55-93.37), the specificity (95%CI) was 89.02% (61.24-95.45). The overall sensitivity (95% confidence interval) of MRI was 91.31% (75.47-94.4) and the specificity (95%CI) of MRI was 83.02% (61.23-91.45). There was no statistical significance between sensitivity of two methods (p-value: 0.092). Conclusions: Totally, according to our findings and comparison with other similar studies, it could be concluded that ultrasonography has a good diagnostic modality in patients suspicious to rotator cuff tearing compared with MRI as a more diagnostic imaging test. Accordingly, its use is recommended in patients suspicious to have rotator cuff tearing.