Role of 3D MR sequences in the evaluation of Glenoid labral tears in comparison with conventional MRI

Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of 3D MRI in diagnosing glenoid labral tears in comparison to conventional MRI considering arthroscopy as the gold standard investigation. Materials and Methods: Forty five patients between 15-60 years of age with shoulder pain and suspected glenoid labral pathologies are included in the study.MRI of the shoulder joint including 3D sequences was done and findings are compared with the final diagnosis obtained by arthroscopy. Post arthrogram 3D sequences are also acquired whenever arthrogram was performed and the findings are compared with those of conventional MRI and Arthroscopy. MR arthrogram was considered as gold standard in cases where arthroscopy was not done. The analysis was done using kappa statistics. Results: Maximum patients (23 out of 45)are students with athletic activity in the age group of 21-30 years and ninety percent of the patients are male. Most of the patients presented with recurrent shoulder subluxation/dislocation and there is tear of anteroinferior labrum in fifty percent of the patients. 3D MRI showed improved sensitivity and specificity for labral tears (100% accuracy for superior segment tears with subtle false negativity for inferior segment tears). Pre and post arthrogram 3DMRI showed perfect agreement with arthroscopy with kappa score of 0.9 and 0.94 respectively. Conclusion: 3D MRI is a sensitive tool in detection of labral tears and correlates better with arthroscopic findings but was not found to substitute conventional MRI.