Clinical Y-view versus 3-dimensional assessments of intramuscular fat in patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tears.

Rationale And Objectives: Recent evidence suggests an inhomogeneous distribution of intramuscular rotator cuff fat infiltration (FI) in a small sample of individuals with rotator cuff tears, yet clinically just a few slices at the scapular Y-view are used to evaluate FI in patients with rotator cuff tears. The purpose of this study was to determine if assessment of FI using the scapular Y-view is representative of the entire muscle in patients with full-thickness rotator cuff tears, and whether this varies by tear size.

Materials And Methods: Patients (N = 25) diagnosed with full-thickness rotator cuff tear and confirmed with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were included.