Rotator cuff muscle fibrosis can be assessed using ultrashort echo time magnetization transfer MRI with fat suppression.

Muscle degeneration following rotator cuff tendon tearing is characterized by fatty infiltration and fibrosis. While tools exist for the characterization of fat, the ability to noninvasively assess muscle fibrosis is limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the capability of quantitative ultrashort echo time T1 (UTE-T1) and UTE magnetization transfer (UTE-MT) mapping with and without fat suppression (FS) for the differentiation of injured and control rotator cuff muscles and for the detection of fibrosis. A rat model of chronic massive rotator cuff tearing (n = 12) was used with tenotomy of the right supraspinatus and infraspinatus tendons and silicone implants to prevent healing. Imaging was performed on a 3-T scanner, and UTE-T1 mapping with and without FS and UTE-MT with and without FS for macromolecular fraction (MMF) mapping was performed. At 20 weeks postinjury, T1 and MMF were measured in the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles of the injured and contralateral, internal control sides. Histology was performed and connective tissue fraction (CTF) was measured, defined as the area of collagen-rich extracellular matrix divided by the total muscle area. Paired t-tests and correlation analyses were performed. Significant differences between injured and control sides were found for CTF in the supraspinatus (mean ± SD, 14.5% ± 3.9% vs. 11.3% ± 3.7%, p = 0.01) and infraspinatus (17.0% ± 5.4% vs. 12.5% ± 4.6%, p < 0.01) muscles, as well as for MMF using UTE-MT FS in the supraspinatus (9.7% ± 0.3% vs. 9.5% ± 0.2%, p = 0.04) and infraspinatus (10.9% ± 0.8% vs. 10.1% ± 0.5%, p < 0.01) muscles. No significant differences between sides were evident for T1 without or with FS or for MMF using UTE-MT. Only MMF using UTE-MT FS was significantly correlated with CTF for both supraspinatus (r = 0.46, p = 0.03) and infraspinatus (r = 0.51, p = 0.01) muscles. Fibrosis occurs in rotator cuff muscle degeneration, and the UTE-MT FS technique may be helpful to evaluate the fibrosis component, independent from the fatty infiltration process.