Evaluation of ultrasonography as a diagnostic technique in the assessment of rotator cuff tendon tears

In this study we assessed the clinical usefulness of ultrasonography as a modality in the diagnosis of rota tor cuff tears. One hundred twenty patients with pre operative ultrasonography were analyzed by diagnostic arthroscopy to evaluate rotator cuff integrity. Two groups, 61 patients with a positive ultrasonogram and 59 patients with a negative ultrasonogram, were ana lyzed. The 61 patients with a positive ultrasonogram preoperatively were found to have 42 full-thickness tears and 19 partial-thickness tears. Diagnostic arthros copy confirmed a sensitivity of 95% for the full-thick ness tears and 41 % for the partial-thickness tears. In the 59 patients with negative ultrasonography, the specificity for full-thickness tears was 93% and in the 19 partial-thickness tears it was 91 %. Our conclusion is that ultrasonography is an effective modality for the assessment of full-thickness tears, but not partial-thick ness tears.