Rotator cuff disease

A dual-surface-coil array in a Helmholtz configuration was used to evaluate th rotator cuff in ten normal volunteers and 44 patients. Studies were performed with a General Electric 1.5-T MR imager. Thirty-two patients underwent surgery, 25 of whom also underwent arthrography. In comparison with surgery, MR imaging was more sensitive than arthrography for rotator cuff tears (91% vs 71%). The specificity and accuracy of MR imaging were 88% and 91%. The accuracy increased with use of an MR grading system. MR findings correlated with surgical findings with regard to the size and site of tears. MR findings of cuff tears were studied with multivariate analysis. Correlation was also found between a clinical score, the MR grade, and the clinical outcome