Tear of the long head of the biceps brachii tendon: evaluation with shoulder MRI

Abstract

Objective To assess the diagnostic value of MRI for the long head of the biceps brachii tendon tear,and to compare the diagnostic efficiency between routing MRI and MR arthrography. Methods A retrospective study was conducted in 215 cases with shoulder MR examination (107 with MR arthrography, and 108 with routing MRI) and subsequent shoulder arthrescopy and surgery. Two radiologists analyzed all MR examinations independently, and the results were compared with those of arthroscopy and surgery. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were calculated. Kappa values were used to quantify the interobserver agreement. Results Based on the results of arthroacopy and surgery, 215 patients comprised 7 cases of complete tear of the long head of the biceps brachii tendon, 29 cases of partial tear, and 179 cases without tear. The overall sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for the diagnosis of tears (complete and partial tear) of the long head of the biceps brachii tendon were 72.2% (26/36), 91.6% (164/179), and 88.4% (190/215) respectively for observer 1, 80.6% (29/36), 93.8% (168/179), and 91.6% (197/215) respectively for observer 2. The interobserver agreement was good (Kappa value=0.681). For the complete tear of the biceps brachii tendon, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were all 100% (7/7), 100% (208/208), and 100% (215/215) for both observers. For the tear of the long head of the biceps brachii tendon, the accuracy of MR arthrography were 93.4% (100/107) for observer 1 and 96.3% (103/107) for observer 2. They were higher than the Accuracy of routing MRI, which were 83.3% (90/108)and 87.0% (94/108) respectively for two observers (P<0.05). Conclusion Shoulder MRI is a moderate reliable method for evaluating the tear of the long head of the biceps brachii tendon, and the accuracy of MR arthrography is found to be superior to that of routine MRI. Key words: Shoulder joint; Injuries; Magnetic resonance imaging