Predicting the surgical reparability of large-to-massive rotator cuff tears by B-mode ultrasonography: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

To compare the predictability for surgical reparability of B-mode ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with large-to-massive rotator cuff tears (RCTs). MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study. Participants with large-to-massive RCTs who underwent arthroscopic repair were included. B-mode ultrasound and MRI were conducted prior to arthroscopic repair. B-mode ultrasound was used to evaluated the echogenicity of rotator cuff muscle using the Heckmatt scale. The intra-rater and inter-rater reliabilities were examined by two independent physicians. MRI was used to evaluate the degrees of tendon retraction, fatty Conclusion B-mode ultrasound was a reliable examination tool and had a similar predictive ability of surgical reparability to that of MRI among patients with large-to-massive RCTs.

Emerging Role of Quantitative Ultrasound-Based Imaging Techniques for Characterizing Rotator Cuff Tears: A Scoping Review

“…When muscle thickness was measured at the scapular notch in both US and MRI, r = 0.76 [ 38 ]. Chen et al found medium to large effect sizes (r = 0.4–0.8) for correlating the large-to-massive rotator cuff tears and good predictive validity for surgical reparability between B-mode ultrasound and MRI findings [ 39 ]. Despite the promising findings on reliability in the examination of these measurements, the small sample size of patient populations and the lack of high quality and comprehensive quantifications of rotator cuff muscle tissue properties were not included.…”

A modified Patte classification system for rotator cuff tendon retraction to predict reparability and tendon healing in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

“…The most important findings of the present study was that the diagnostic performance of the modified Patte classification system for tendon retraction, including the cut-off points for predicting reparability (medial one-fifth of the humeral head) and tendon healing after ARCR (medial one-third of the humeral head) in the Patte stage 2 area was excellent for reparability and acceptable for rotator cuff healing, with high measurement reliability. Previous literature indicates that retraction of the supraspinatus tendon is a significant predictive factor for reparability and postoperative rotator cuff integrity in ARCR [6,11,19,21,34,37]. The Patte classification has been widely used to classify tendon retraction, in which stage 3 retraction is a significant negative predictive factor for reparability and rotator cuff integrity.…”

“…Previous literature indicates that retraction of the supraspinatus tendon is a significant predictive factor for reparability and postoperative rotator cuff integrity in ARCR [6, 11, 19, 21, 34, 37]. The Patte classification has been widely used to classify tendon retraction, in which stage 3 retraction is a significant negative predictive factor for reparability and rotator cuff integrity.…”

“…In the previous literature, several studies have reported ROC analysis of the Patte classification for reparability. Kim et al [17] noted that the AUC of ROC analysis for reparability in Patte's classification was 0.674, and Chen et al [6] reported it as 0.79. Kim et al [18] reported a value of 0.721.…”

“…Therefore, a reliable method to predict the possibility of irreparability and healing failure after ARCR would help surgeons plan surgical procedures and counselling patients [31,45]. Notably, many studies have identified that retraction of the rotator cuff tendon, determined by preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is crucial in predicting reparability and tendon healing after ARCR [1,6,11,19,21,34,37,38].…”