Utility of 3D reformatted images in the diagnosis of sternoclavicular joint injury.

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the ability of musculoskeletal radiologists to diagnose sternoclavicular joint injuries in the standard CT imaging planes compared to 3D volume rendered images to define the most accurate plane to improve prospective diagnosis.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective query of our institutional database was performed. Twenty-six patients with a diagnosis of sternoclavicular joint injury, who had been evaluated with CT and treated by orthopedic surgery, and 30 control patients who did not have a sternoclavicular joint injury were included for analysis. Two blinded radiologists with specialty training in musculoskeletal radiology independently reviewed axial, coronal, sagittal, and 3D reformatted CT images and documented whether injury was present or not present.

Results: Accuracy was good for both radiologists on all views. It was lowest on the sagittal view for both readers. Accuracy was highest for the 3D view. When comparing the accuracy of the four views for each radiologist, there was a significant difference for Radiologist A, whose 3D images were more accurate compared to the axial and sagittal views. There was no significant difference for Radiologist B. There was good inter-reader agreement, which was highest on the 3D images.

Conclusion: 3D volume renderings of the sternoclavicular joints have the potential to improve radiologist accuracy for detection of sternoclavicular joint injury/dislocation in the setting of chest well trauma, which could decrease instances of missed or delayed diagnosis.