A Comparative Study of MRI and Arthroscopic Findings in Shoulder Pathologies

Background: Correct diagnosis of shoulder pathology is essential to start treatment immediately and avoid complications. MRI is an important imaging tool, however, arthroscopy remains the reference standard in diagnosing shoulder pathologies against which alternative diagnostic modality should be compared. This study seeks to compare to what extent MRI findings are accurate, with arthroscopic findings, as the “gold standard” in shoulder pathologies. Methods: This was a prospective study of 22 patients with various shoulder pathologies apart from recent fracture, tumor. Both sexes within age group 18-60 years were included in the study. The patients were first examined clinically, followed by 1.5 tesla MRI scan and finally arthroscopically. The findings of MRI were correlated with diagnostic arthroscopy. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value of MRI findings was calculated to correlate with arthroscopic findings. Results: MRI had a significant statistic correlation (P<0.05) with various lesions of shoulder. Conclusion: By analysing the results of this study, we conclude that Magnetic Resonance imaging is accurate, practical, efficient, non-invasive, acceptable diagnostic modality in shoulder pathologies especially in condition like full-thickness supraspinatus tear, impingement syndrome, Hill-Sachs lesion and Bank art’s lesion. However, statistically significant correlation was not found in SLAP lesions and subscapular is tear.