Sonographic Visualization of the Rotator Cable in Patients With Symptomatic Full-Thickness Rotator Cuff Tears: Correlation With Tear Size, Muscular Fatty Infiltration and Atrophy, and Functional Outcome.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of sonographic visualization of the rotator cable in patients with symptomatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears and asymptomatic controls and to correlate rotator cable visualization with tear size, muscular fatty infiltration and atrophy, and the functional outcome in the patients with rotator cuff tears.

METHODS: Fifty-seven patients with rotator cuff tears and 30 asymptomatic volunteers underwent shoulder sonography for prospective assessment of the rotator cable and rotator cuff tear and responded to 2 functional outcome questionnaires (shortened Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand [QuickDASH] and Constant). In the patients with rotator cuff tears, appropriate tests were used to correlate rotator cable visualization with the tear size, functional outcome, muscular fatty infiltration, and atrophy.

RESULTS: The patients with rotator cuff tears included 25 women and 32 men (mean age,57 years; range, 39-67 years), and the volunteers included 13 women and 17 men (mean age, 56 years; range, 35-64 years). The rotator cable was identified in 77% (23 of 30) of controls and 23% (13 of 57) of patients with rotator cuff tears. In the patients, nonvisualization of the rotator cable correlated with larger tears (P < 0.001) and higher grades of supraspinatus atrophy (P = .049) and fatty infiltration (P = .022). There was no significant correlation with functional outcome scores (QuickDASH, P = .989; Constant, P = .073) or infraspinatus fatty infiltration (P = .065).

CONCLUSIONS: Nonvisualization of the rotator cable was more prevalent in patients with symptomatic rotator cuff tears than asymptomatic controls and was associated with a larger tear size and greater supraspinatus fatty infiltration and atrophy. Diligent assessment of the supraspinatus muscle should be done in patients with rotator cuff tears without a visible rotator cable, as the integrity of these anatomic structures may be interdependent.