Tear progression of symptomatic full-thickness and partial-thickness rotator cuff tears as measured by repeated MRI

• DOI: 10.1007/s00167-016-4388-3
• Publication Date: 2016-11-30T15:48:33Z
• Authors: Yang-Soo Kim; Sung-Eun Kim; Sung-Ho Bae; Hyo-Jin Lee; Won-Hee Jee; Chang Kyun Park
• Keywords: Adult; Aged, 80 and over; Male; Rupture; Time Factors; Middle Aged; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Occupational Injuries; Rotator Cuff Injuries; 03 medical and health sciences; Injury Severity Score; 0302 clinical medicine; Risk Factors; Disease Progression; Humans; Female; Aged; Follow-Up Studies

The purpose of this study was to analyse the natural course of symptomatic full-thickness and partial-thickness rotator cuff tears treated non-operatively and to identify risk factors affecting tear enlargement.One hundred and twenty-two patients who received non-surgical treatment for a partial- or full-thickness supraspinatus tear were included in this study. All rotator cuff tears were diagnosed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the same modality was used for follow-up studies. Follow-up MRI was performed after at least a 6-month interval. We evaluated the correlation between tear enlargement and follow-up duration. Eleven risk factors were analysed by both univariate and multivariate analyses to identify factors that affect enlargement of rotator cuff tears. The mean follow-up period was 24.4 ± 19.5 months.Out of 122 patients, 34 (27.9%) patients had an initial full-thickness tear and 88 (72.1%) patients had a partial-thickness tear. Considering all patients together, tear size increased in 51/122 (41.8%) patients, was unchanged in 65/122 (53.3%) patients, and decreased in 6/122 (4.9%) patients. Tear size increased for 28/34 (82.4%) patients with full-thickness tears and 23/88 (26.1%) patients with partial-thickness tears. From the two groups which were followed over 12 months, a higher rate of enlargement was observed in full-thickness tears than in partial-thickness tears (6-12 months, n.s.; 12-24 months, P = 0.002; over 24 months, P < 0.001). Logistic regression revealed that having a full-thickness tear was the most reliable risk factor for tear progression (P < 0.001).This study found that 28/34 (82.4%) of symptomatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears and 23/88 (26.1%) of symptomatic partial-thickness tears increased in size over a follow-up period of 6-100 months. Full-thickness tears showed a higher rate of enlargement than partial-thickness tears regardless of the follow-up duration. Univariate and multivariate analyses suggested that full-thickness tear was the most reliable risk factor for tear enlargement. The clinical relevance of these observations is that full-thickness rotator cuff tears treated conservatively should be monitored more carefully for progression than partial-thickness tears.IV.