The Role of high Resolution Ultrasound in Comparison to Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Evaluation of Painful Shoulder in Adults

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Radiodiagnosis, Faculty of Medicine for Girls, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

10.21608/aimj.2025.446600

Abstract

Background: Shoulder pain is a common complaint that can significantly affect an individual's quality of life and daily activities.
Aim: To assess the role of MRI in the examination and characterization of different etiologies causing shoulder pain and to compare ultrasound accuracy to MRI in the identification of rotator cuff and long head of biceps musculotendinous pathologies.
Patients and methods: This investigation involved 30 cases presented with symptoms of pain of shoulder and some patients have a limitation in their shoulder movement. The study was performed from March 2023 to August 2024. All cases were done at Al-Zahraa University hospital, where ultrasound and MRI examinations were performed in the Radiology Department.
Results: Compared to MRI, ultrasonography showed 100 % sensitivity in detecting rotator cuff tendinosis, 90.91% in detecting partial-thickness supraspinatus tears, and 75 % sensitivity in detecting full-thickness supraspinatus tears. Compared to MRI, ultrasonography showed 100 % sensitivity in detecting Subscapularis tendinopathy and Subscapularis tear. Compared to MRI, ultrasonography showed 50 % sensitivity in detecting Subacromial bursitis and muscle atrophy. It was noticed that ultrasonography sensitivity in detecting biceps tenosynovitis compared to MRI is 66.67 %.
Conclusion: Dynamic ultrasonography showed high sensitivity in the diagnosis of different causative factors encountered in cases of painful shoulder over MRI, especially in dynamic assessment of sub-acromial impingement associated with soft tissue or bursal impingement, narrowed acromio-humeral distance, and biceps subluxation.

Keywords

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics