抄録
Background: It has been reported that cuff tear arthopathy (CTA) in turn results in both nutritional and mechanical factors. We consider that degenerative enlargement of the humeral head would be found in CTA. The purpose of this study was to investigate the humeral head size using computed tomography (CT).
Methods: We collected CT image data from 20 shoulders in 10 patients who had ipsilateral femoralization of the humeral head (6 men and 4 women, mean age 71.7 years). Maximum area (MA) and radius (R) in axial view of the humeral head were determined as the area of fitting circle based on the joint surface. In the same slice, we measured two different diameters through greater tuberosity (GT) and lesser tuberosity (LT). Each parameter was compared between CTA side and unaffected side. Statistical analyses were performed using pared t-test and p value was set at 0.05.
Results: MA in CTA side was significantly higher than that in unaffected side, (17.7 mm vs 16.3 mm, p = 0.0013). Although GT in CTA side was also significantly higher than that in the unaffected side, LT had no significant difference between the sides.
Discussion and conclusion: The current study showed that the humeral head in CTA was larger than that in the unaffected side and elongated direction was a line from GT to cartilage. Although several additional controls would be needed in future study, our data would support the nutritional theory of the CTA pathology.
