abstract

Objectives To prospectively evaluate the healing process of supraspinatus tendon by using 3D ultrashort echo time (UTE)-Cones during the first year after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR) surgery. Methods Twenty-two patients who underwent ARCR were included and performed with quantitative MRI and clinical examinations at serial follow-up timepoints: 3, 6 and 12-month postoperatively. Twenty healthy controls underwent MRI examitations as well. The supraspinatus tendon repair status was assessed according to Sugaya’s classification. Then, the tendon was divided equally into lateral, middle and medial subregions to get T2* values on UTE-Cones images. Results The mean T2* value of lateral region increased from 3-month to 6-month and then decreased at 12-month (P<0.001). Moreover, the T2* value of lateral subregion at 12-month was comparable to that of healthy tendon (P=0.32). While for other subregions, the T2* values showed no significant differences among the three timepoints. The paients achieved satisfactory outcomes at 12-month on basis of clinical scores. The T2* value of lateral subregion correlated strongly with semi-quantitative Sugaya’s classification (r=0.82, P<0.001). No significant correlations were found regarding T2* values and clinical scores (P>0.05). Conclusions The healing process of supraspinatus tendon after ARCR was revealed by the T2* value of lateral subregion which increased at 3-month, peaked at 6-month, and was comparable to healthy tendon at 12-month follow-up. Quantitative 3D UTE-Cones which provided biochemical characteristics of the tendon, could be a powerful method to dynamically monitor the supraspinatus tendon healing after ARCR.

Acknowledgements

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