Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 4;6(4):638-642.
doi: 10.1016/j.jseint.2022.03.001. eCollection 2022 Jul.

Diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging for partial tears of the long head of the biceps tendon in patients with rotator cuff tears

Yuji Shibayama  1 , Toshiaki Hirose  2 , Akira Sugi  1 , Emi Mizushima  1 , Yuto Watanabe  1 , Rira Tomii  1 , Kousuke Iba  1 , Toshihiko Yamashita  1
Affiliations

Diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging for partial tears of the long head of the biceps tendon in patients with rotator cuff tears

Yuji Shibayama et al. JSES Int. .

Abstract

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is useful for diagnosing shoulder diseases preoperatively. However, detection of partial tears of the long head of the biceps tendon (LHBT) using current clinical tests and imaging modalities is difficult. We aimed to evaluate the accuracy of radial-slice MRI for diagnosing partial tears of the LHBT. We hypothesized that radial-slice MRI may be a valuable diagnostic tool for assessing diagnosing tears of the LHBT.

Methods: We retrospectively investigated 118 patients who underwent shoulder arthroscopy for rotator cuff tears. Intraoperative LHBT findings were compared with the identification of partial tears of the LHBT on conventional-slice MRI and radial-slice MRI, using a 3.0-T system. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values for the detection of LHBT tears. Inter- and intraobserver reliability for radial-slice MRI was calculated using kappa statistics.

Results: We diagnosed 69 patients (58%) without any LHBT tears and 49 with partial tears (42%), arthroscopically. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values of conventional-slice MRI for detection of partial tears of the LHBT were 52%, 94%, 78%, 92%, and 58%, respectively. Radial-slice MRI had 84% sensitivity, 90% specificity, 86% accuracy, and 92% positive and 80% negative predictive values for partial tears of the LHBT. Inter- and intraobserver reliability for radial-slice MRI was 0.69 and 0.74, respectively, corresponding to high reproducibility and defined as good.

Conclusion: Radial-slice MRI demonstrated significantly higher sensitivity than conventional-slice MRI. These results indicate that radial-slice MRI is useful for diagnosing LHBT partial tears.

Keywords: Arthroscopy; Biceps tendon tear; Diagnosis; Radial magnetic resonance imaging; Rotator cuff tear.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representative case of partial tears of LHBT in conventional-slice MRI. (A) Oblique coronal image. LHBT increased intratendinous signal (arrow). (B) Oblique sagittal image. LHBT was thickening (arrows). (C) Axial images. LHBT increased intratendinous signal (arrow). A, acromion; G, glenoid; HH, humeral head.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Imaging procedure used for radial slices. (A, B) First, the rotation axis (dashed line) was defined by using axial and oblique coronal images. (C) Second, radial slices was obtained per 10° rotationally according to the axis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Representative case of normal or partial tears of LHBT in radial-slice MRI. (A) Clear finding in LHBT (arrowheads) showing negative findings. (B) Thickening of LHBT showing positive findings (arrow). C, coracoid; G, glenoid; HH, humeral head.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Ahrens P.M., Boileau P. The long head of biceps and associated tendinopathy. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2007;2007:1001–1009. doi: 10.1302/0301-620X.89B8. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Armstrong A., Teefey S.A., Wu T., Clark A.M., Middleton W.D., Yamaguchi K., et al. The efficacy of ultrasound in the diagnosis of long head of the biceps tendon pathology. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2006;15:7–11. doi: 10.1016/j.jse.2005.04.008. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beall D.P., Williamson E.E., Ly J.Q., Adkins M.C., Emery R.L., Jones T.P., et al. Association of biceps tendon tears with rotator cuff abnormalities: degree of correlation with tears of the anterior and superior portions of the rotator cuff. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2003;180:633–639. doi: 10.2214/ajr.180.3.1800633. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Becker D.A., Cofield R.H. Tenodesis of the long head of the biceps brachii for chronic bicipital tendinitis. Long-term results. J Bone Joint Surg. 1989;71:376–381. - PubMed
    1. Belanger V., Dupuis F., Leblond J., Roy J.S. Accuracy of examination of the long head of the biceps tendon in the clinical setting: a systematic review. J Rehabil Med. 2019;51:479–491. doi: 10.2340/16501977-2563. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources