[Lesions of the rotatory cuff: diagnostic validity of echography. Surgical findings]

Abstract

Ultrasonography is the method of choice in the study of rotator cuff tears, a very frequent event especially as the final outcome of the impingement syndrome. The authors investigated US sensitivity with the retrospective review of 20 surgical patients with a chronically painful shoulder. US sensitivity was 85%, with 15% false-negative results. Seventeen true-positive cases were restudied for the three main US signs of cuff tear: marked tendon thinning was observed in 64.7% of cases, cuff disappearance in 23.5% and focal discontinuity in 11.8%. This retrospective study confirms that, whenever US shows a cuff tear, the diagnosis can be made, while when US findings are negative or questionable, but clinics are positive, MRI must be performed.