Abstract:
Patients with rotator cuff tears diagnosed by ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) and confirmed by operative fmdings.
Summary:
The overlap of symptomatology due to various shoulder pathologies such as inflammatory
processes, degenerative conditions and traumatic entities, makes the clinical diagnosis of
rotator cuff tears challenging and difficult. However recent advances in diagnostic technology
have greatly improved the diagnosis of rotator cuff tears in the developed countries. On the
other hand developing countries are non-beneficiary of modem diagnostic technologies such
as magnetic resonance imaging and arthroscopy. They are too expensive to acquire and
maintain and also they require highly skilled manpower. Therefore they are compelled to look
for cheap but reliable diagnostic technologies. It is the author's opinion that, this cheap and
reliable diagnostic technology, at the present time is ultrasonography.
Ultrasonography is used routinely as a screening diagnostic procedure for rotator cuff tears at
the Schulthess clinic in Switzerland. In the period of October to December 1999, 50
consecutive patients were ultrasonographically diagnosed to have rotator cuff tears. These
patients were then investigated by magnetic resonance imaging. Operation for rotator cuff tear
was subsequently performed only on those with positive MRI findings. The operation
fmdings confirmed the preoperative ultrasonography and MRI diagnosis. Ultrasonography
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was therefore, found to have a diagnostic sensitivity of 100 per cent in this study and also
proved to be appreciably accurate in predicting the location and extent ofthe cuff tear.
It is recommended from the basis of this study that ultrasonography should be adopted for the
diagnosis of rotator cuff pa
