Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic power of indirect MR arthrography (I-MRA) particularly in rotator cuff tears.
Material and methods: Sonography, conventional MRI and I-MRA were compared with arthroscopy in 25 patients. Additionally literature about experience with the method in other shoulder disease was searched.
Results: Sensitivity and specificity in the detection of rotator cuff tears were 0.6 and 0.7 respectively using sonography, 0.66 and 1 with conventional MRI and 1 and 0.86 for I-MRA. I-MRA was especially useful in diagnosing partial tears. In other studies I-MRA showed good results in the evaluation of glenoid labral tears, with a sensitivity of 91% and a specificity of 92%.
Conclusion: I-MRA can be successfully used to diagnose rotator cuff and labral tears.