بررسي ارزش تشخيصي پرتونگاري ساده مفصل شانه براي تشخيص تاندون روتيتوركاف

A Study to Assess the Value of Conventional Radiography as a Diagnostic and Screening Test for Rotator Cuff Tear

Background: Rotator cuff disease is a significient cause of shoulder pain. Radiographic evaluation plays an important role in diagnosis of such an illness. In spite of advancement in imaging studies, the measurement of acromio humeral distance on good quality plain radiographs could give us a good clue about an intact or deficient cuff. Materials and Methods: The acromio humeral interval (AH1) was studied on standard radiographs in 3 groups of people in order to establish the change in measurements in diseased versus healthy shoulders. Group I: 200 shoulders, 50 males and 50 females with 200 normal shoulders, group Ii: 25 males and 25 females with shoulder pain, group III: 50 patients who had undergone rotator cuff surgery (33 full-thickness and 17 partial-thickness) between 1964 to 2003. Results: In group 1: no relation was found between AHI and sex, hand dominancy or age. In group II: The AHI measurement difference in symptomatic shoulders versus painless shoulders was significant. The shoulders with more than 2 months pain had lower AHI than the symptomless opposite sides (p<0.05). Group III: a significant difference was observed, with full-thickness tears having lower values (p=0.0001). Conclusion: The measurement of acromio-humeral distance on specific standard radiograph would have 96 percent specificity and 90 percent sensitivity in diagnosis of rotator cuff tear.