Supraspinatus tendon tears at 3.0 T shoulder MR arthrography: diagnosis with 3D isotropic turbo spin-echo SPACE sequence versus 2D conventional sequences.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the diagnostic performance of shoulder MR arthrography with 3D isotropic fat-suppressed (FS) turbo spin-echo sequence (TSE-SPACE) for supraspinatus tendon tears in comparison with 2D conventional sequences at 3.0 T.


METHODS
The study was HIPAA-compliant and approved by the institutional review board with a waiver of informed consent. Eighty-seven arthroscopically confirmed patients who underwent 3.0 T shoulder MR arthrography with 2D sequences and 3D TSE-SPACE were included in a consecutive fashion from March 2009 to February 2010. Two reviewers independently analyzed 2D sequences and 3D TSE-SPACE. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and interobserver agreement (κ) were compared between 2D sequences and 3D TSE-SPACE for full-thickness and partial-thickness supraspinatus tendon tears together and for partial-thickness supraspinatus tendon tears alone.


RESULTS
There were 33 full-thickness tears and 28 partial-thickness tears of supraspinatus tendons. For full-thickness and partial-thickness supraspinatus tendon tears together, the mean sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of both readers were 96, 92, and 94% on 2D sequences and 91, 84, and 89% on 3D TSE-SPACE. For partial-thickness supraspinatus tendon tears alone, the mean sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 95, 92, and 94% on 2D sequences and 84, 85, and 84% on 3D TSE-SPACE. There was no statistical difference between 2D sequences and 3D TSE-SPACE. Interobserver agreements were almost perfect on 2D conventional sequences and substantial on 3D TSE-SPACE.


CONCLUSIONS
Compared with 2D conventional sequences, MR arthrography using 3D TSE-SPACE was comparable for diagnosing supraspinatus tendon tears despite limitations in detecting small partial-thickness tears and in discriminating between full-thickness and deep partial-thickness tears.
Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, 505 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 137-701, South Korea.
Joon-Yong
JY
Jung
Won-Hee
WH
Jee
Michael Y
MY
Park
So-Yeon
SY
Lee
Yang-Soo
YS
Kim
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001182:Arthroscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017006:Rotator Cuff / Q000601:surgery; D000070636:Rotator Cuff Injuries; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012782:Shoulder / Q000601:surgery; D000070599:Shoulder Injuries; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery