Effect of field of view on MR diagnosis of rotator cuff tears.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect of decreasing the field of view (FOV) on the accuracy of MR for diagnosing rotator cuff tears.


METHODS
One hundred shoulder MR scans with surgical correlation were evaluated for the presence or absence of a cuff tear. The sensitivity and specificity of MR relative to the surgical results were determined for the 59 patients scanned with a 24-cm FOV, and the 41 patients scanned with an 18-cm FOV. All other imaging parameters including acquisition time were identical. The sensitivity and specificity of the two groups were compared using a t-test.


RESULTS
The specificity of MR for diagnosing a rotator cuff tear improved from 0.65 for the 24-cm FOV group to 0.89 for the 18-cm FOV group (P = 0.04). The sensitivity changed from 0.91 to 0.96 (P = 0.25).


CONCLUSIONS
Reducing the FOV from 24 cm to 18 cm results in a statistically significant improvement in specificity of MR for diagnosing rotator cuff tears.
Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin Clinical Science Center, Madison 53792-3252, USA.
M J
MJ
Tuite
D R
DR
Yandow
A A
AA
De Smet
J F
JF
Orwin
F A
FA
Quintana
D000328:Adult; D001182:Arthroscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017006:Rotator Cuff / Q000473:pathology; D000070636:Rotator Cuff Injuries; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology