[Purpose] Post-operative MR images sometimes reveal a retear after a rotator cuff repair. On the hypothesis that the shape of the suturing of the cuff stump may influence a retear, we evaluated the signal changes of the cuff stump on MR images after a rotator cuff repair.
[Materials and methods]Forty-three shoulders had taken MR images at 1 year after the cuff repair. The patients were thirty-three males and ten females with an average age of fifty-five years (twentyeight to seventy-three). We classified the bony trough according to its shape into two types: Rectangular (R) type and Smooth (S) type. The R type has an angle between the edge of the humeral head and the bony trough. The S type does not have this angle and the line between the edge of the humeral head and the bony trough is smooth. The signal intensity of the cuff stump was classified into three groups: high intensity (H) group, intermediate (I) group and low intensity (L) group.
[Results]Thirty cases were S type. In the S type, twenty-three of the cases, the patients were in the L group or I group, and in five cases were in the H group. Two cases were retears. The JOA score was 93 points. Fourteen cases were R type. In the R type, six cases of repaired rotator cuff were recognized a high intensity, and four of the cases were retears. The JOA score was 87 points.
[Conclusion]There was less of an impingement between cuff sutures when we used a smooth bony. So we believe operators had better make a smooth bony trough.
