抄録
(Purpose)This study was undertaken to obtain more detailed information about the degenerative changes and integrity in the rotator cuff and compared those with operative findings.
(Materials and methods)The subjects were 75 patients(79 shoulders)who had underwent shouder sonography before surgery for the rotator cufftears, impingement syndrome, frozen shoulder, shoulder instability or a sport's injury. The age ranged from 17 to 88 years, with a meanage of 59.4 years. There were 120 controls, 120(240 shoulders)people who had had nosymptoms in the shoulder and whose ages ranged from 10 to 92 years, with an average of 57.4 years. Bilateral sonographies using a 7.5 MHz linear phased transducer were performed on all the patients. The findings abnormalities were evaluated. 1) a hizh-echovenicity. 2)a low-echozenicitv between the rotator cuff and the humeral head,3)a low-echgenicity in the rotator cuff,4)irregularity of the rotator cuff, and 5)non-visualization of the rotator cuff. The echogenicity of the rotator cuff was compared with the deltoid muscle was classified 3types. typel: Rotator Cuff>Deltoid. type2: Rotator Cuff=Deltoid. type3: Rotator Cuff<Deltoid.
(Results)The complete tears all had abnormalities. All echogenic abnormalities were detected in cases of complete tears while only 1),2)and 4) were found in incomplete tears. There were no echogenic abnormalities in other disorders. The Typel was noted in patients ranging in age from 10 to 40 years, types 2 and 3 in patients from 40 to 90 years. Particularly, those patients of advanced age(>70years)had many more abnormalities.
(Conclusion)These date indicate that echogenicity of the rotator cuff and its abnormal findings were observed as being related to the aging development.
