Arthrography is superior to magnetic resonance imaging for diagnosing injuries of the triangular fibrocartilage.
The ability of single-injection radiocarpal arthrography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect full-thickness tears of the triangular fibrocartilage were compared with wrist arthroscopy in 102 patients with wrist pain. The sensitivity of arthrography was 85%, and of MRI was 73%. Specificity was 100% for arthrography and 72% for MRI. Accuracy was 92% for arthrography, and 73% for MRI. Although future advances in MRI technology will probably improve its usefulness, single-injection wrist arthrography currently is superior to routine MRI for the detection of full-thickness triangular fibrocartilage tears.
Department of Orthopedics, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan.
K
K
Shionova
R
R
Nakamura
T
T
Imaeda
N
N
Makino
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001175:Arthrography; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000293:injuries*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014954:Wrist Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis*