Quantitative T2 mapping of the glenohumeral joint cartilage in asymptomatic shoulders and shoulders with increasing severity of rotator cuff pathology

PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between glenohumeral cartilage T2 mapping values and rotator cuff pathology. METHOD: Fifty-nine subjects (age 48.2 ± 13.5 years, 15 asymptomatic volunteers and 10 tendinosis, 13 partial-thickness tear, 8 full-thickness tear, and 13 massive tear patients) underwent glenohumeral cartilage T2 mapping. The humeral head cartilage was segmented in the sagittal and coronal planes. The glenoid cartilage was segmented in the coronal plane. Group means for each region were calculated and compared between the groups. RESULTS: Massive tear group T2 values were significantly higher than the asymptomatic group values for the humeral head cartilage included in the sagittal (45 ± 7 versus 32 ± 4 ms, p < .001) and coronal (44 ± 6 versus 38 ± 1 ms, p = 0.01) plane images. Mean T2 was also significantly higher for massive than full-thickness tears (45 ± 7 versus 38 ± 5 ms, p = 0.02), massive than partial-thickness tears (45 ± 7 versus 34 ± 4 ms, p < 0.001), and massive tears than tendinosis (45 ± 7 versus 35 ± 4 ms, p = 0.001) in the sagittal-images humeral head region and significantly higher for massive tears than asymptomatic shoulders (44 ± 6 versus 38 ± 1 ms, p = 0.01) in the coronal-images humeral head region. CONCLUSION: Humeral head cartilage T2 values were significantly positively correlated with rotator cuff pathology severity. Massive rotator cuff tear patients demonstrated significantly higher superior humeral head cartilage T2 mapping values relative to subjects with no/lesser degrees of rotator cuff pathology.