Narrowed coraco-humeral distance on MRI: Association with subscapularis tendon tear

Purpose

To highlight the relationship between coraco-humeral distance and subscapularis tendon tear.

Material and methods

Sixty-two shoulder MRI studies were examined. Twenty-two patients had partial or complete tear of subscapularis tendon and forty shoulder as a control group. Axial and oblique sagittal MR images were examined to measure the coraco-humeral distance followed by statistical analysis to correlate the distance with tendon tear.

Results

A cut-off value of 8.25?mm for the coraco-humeral distance gave a sensitivity of 77.5% and specificity of 72.7% for subscapularis tendon tear.

Conclusion

There is a well-known relationship between the coraco-humeral distance and the subscapularis tendon tear and its meticulous assessment in subjects with pain in the anterior shoulder region increases the diagnosis of subcoracoid impingement.