MRT-ARTHROGRAPHY - IMPROVED DIAGNOSTIC PR OCEDURE IN SHOULDER INSTABILITY

In a prospective study, we examined 34 patients with shoulder instabil ities and 5 patients with unclear chronic shoulder pain (4 females, 35 males; 18 - 56 years of age, median 28 years) by CT arthrography and MRT arthrography from August 1994 through December 1995. No complicati ons were seen when gadolinium-DPTA was applied intra-articularly. Twen ty-three patients were followed up by operation and/or arthroscopy; 20 patients underwent a modified, open Bankart operation. In this paper, we present a new classification for damage of the anterior capsule an d labrum. MRT arthrography showed better results in judging the anteri or labrum and in determining the degree of damage to the labrum (sensi tivity, specificity and accuracy 100%) in comparison with CT arthrogra phy (sensitivity 90%, specificity 100%, accuracy 91%). Furthermore, MR T arthrography gave clearer results than CT arthrography regarding SLA P and cartilage lesions. Thus, MRT arthrography has proved to be a ver y exact method for diagnosing shoulder instabilities and is superior t o CT arthrography in diagnostic accuracy.