Clinical Utility of DECT in Fat Fraction Assessment of Rotator Cuff Tears: A Comparative Analysis with MRI

Abstract

Introduction: Rotator cuff tears are common musculoskeletal injuries, often associated with fatty degeneration (FD) of the rotator cuff muscles. While MRI has been the gold standard for assessing FD, dual-energy CT (DECT) shows promise in providing quantitative measurements. This study aims to compare FD quantification using DECT and MRI fat fraction values in patients with rotator cuff tears. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients diagnosed with rotator cuff tears underwent DECT and MRI scans for FD assessment. Imaging parameters and techniques were standardized for both modalities. Fat fraction values were obtained using region-of-interest (ROI) analysis. Results: The mean age of participants was 55.73 ± 10.16 years, with a majority classified as Goutallier stage 1. Significant differences were observed between fat fraction values measured by DECT and MRI. The ICC revealed moderate reliability (0.549, p<0.001), while the Pearson correlation coefficient indicated a strong positive correlation (0.808, p<0.001) between the two modalities. Conclusion: While DECT shows potential in preoperative assessment, MRI remains superior to DECT in assessing fat fraction in rotator cuff tears. Further research comparing DECT and MRI fat fraction performance is needed to determine their respective roles in clinical practice.

Keywords

• rotator cuff tears
• fatty degeneration
• dual-energy ct
• mri
• fat fraction