Assessment of the rotator cuff on MRI focussed on supraspinatus tendon

ABSTRACT

Background: Shoulder pain is the third most common musculo-skeletal complaint after low back pain and knee pain. The most common cause of shoulder pain is rotator cuff disease. For the evaluation of shoulder joint, MRI is the modality of choice and is considered over USG. MR imaging is the global assessment of all shoulder structures. Materials and methods: A prospective study of 65 patients were conducted, who were referred to the Department of Radiodiagnosis, Dhiraj General Hospital with shoulder pain. All the scans were done on Philps MR systems Achieva 1.5 tesla. T1 and T2 weighted images in the sagittal, coronal, axial planes were obtained in each patient. Results: In a retrospective review, 50 patients referred to our institution for diagnostic workup for shoulder complaints from June 2016 to December 2016. Out of these, only 7 had no visible pathology. Rotator cuff tendinopathy accounts maximum in which supraspinatus tendinopathy was found in 60% cases (26 patients), subscapularis tendinopathy were in 10% (4 patients), infraspinatus tendinopathy and rotator cuff tendinopathy was not found in any patient. Rest of the pathologies included soft tissue pathology, subacromial-subdeltoid bursitis. Conclusion: MRI provides elaborate diagnosis thus it replaces other investigations. Thus MR imaging is the standard among the imaging methods for optimal depiction of almost all shoulder pathology.