Preoperative shear wave elastography (SWE) can predict unsuccessful rotator cuff repair, according to research published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.
In a prospective study, patients with an elasticity ratio of the supraspinatus muscle above 2.5 — calculated using SWE — were more than 15 times more likely to have insufficient repair, independently of the tear size or muscle characteristics evaluated by MRI.
"The findings support a potential role for SWE in prognostic assessment before rotator cuff repair," the authors write. The study was conducted at the Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital in Hwaseong, Korea, and was published online January 19.
For the study, researchers enrolled 74 patients who were admitted to the hospital from May 2019 through January 2021 to undergo rotator cuff repair. There were 37 men and 37 women, with a mean age of 64 years. Patients underwent a clinical shoulder MRI within 3 months before surgery as well as an investigational shoulder ultrasound using SWE within 2 days before surgery. All elastography ultrasounds were performed by the same musculoskeletal radiologist.
Researchers calculated the elasticity ratio by measuring the mean elasticity of the supraspinatus and trapezius muscles and then calculating the ratio between the two. On MRI, muscular fatty infiltration was assessed by Goutallier's grade, and muscular atrophy was evaluated by the occupation ratio — the ratio of the supraspinatus muscle to the supraspinatus fossa — as well as muscle atrophy grade.
