A prospective study was performed to determine the accuracy of
arthrography compared with ultrasonography in the evaluation of thirty-two
patients who had a degenerative lesion of the rotator cuff. Both tests were
done preoperatively, and the condition of the rotator cuff was determined
intraoperatively. Arthrography was accurate in the diagnosis of
twenty-eight (87 per cent) of the thirty-two patients (twenty who had a
full-thickness tear, seven who had a partial-thickness tear, and five who
had an untorn rotator cuff and tendinitis), while ultrasonography was
diagnostic in only twelve (37 per cent). In this specific population of
patients, arthrography was found to be superior to ultrasonography.