Introduction: Rotator cuff disease is one of the most common causes of shoulder pain. . In addition to history and physical examination, several radiological techniques have been used to detect tears of the rotator cuff. Each has limitations and no clear consensus on the optimum diagnostic study has emerged. The radiological diagnosis of rotator cuff tears has traditionally been performed with arthrography and more recently with non-invasive techniques like ultrasonography and MRI. Objective: Correlation of ultrasound findings with MRI findings. Materials and Methods: Proportional analysis of 30 patients referred to the department of Radio diagnosis, J.J.M. Medical College, Davangere with clinically suspected rotator cuff injuries were subjected to undergo USG and MRI after thorough history taking and clinical examination. USG was carried out on IU22 Philips machine using a high frequency transducer of 5-17 MHz. The rotator cuff tendons, muscles, ACJ, joint cavity and bursae were examined in various positions. Dynamic examination of shoulder were also carried out for impingement. Comparison with opposite shoulder was also done. MRI was performed on 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner (Achieva, Philips), using a dedicated. Interpretation and Results: Increasing age, male gender, dominant arm, history of trauma and type II/III acromion are predisposing factors for rotator cuff tears. Peribicipital tendon fluid, joint effusion, bursal fluid and acromio-clavicular joint hypertrophy have significant association with rotator cuff tears. Pain is the most common presenting complaint with decreased range of motion a common manifestation of rotator cuff tears. Most commonly involved tendon is supraspinatus. Partial tears are more common than the full thickness tears. Among the partial tears most common are articular surface tears. No single clinical examination test has both a high specificity and a high sensitivity, therefore the diagnostic accuracy of shoulder examination is overestimated and these exams are only rarely useful to differentiate rotator cuff tears. Conclusion: USG is less reliable in detecting rotator cuff tears than previously reported and a positive sonographic reading is more reliable than a negative one. MRI is more sensitive and has highest diagnostic accuracy in detecting rotator cuff tears as compared to USG and clinical diagnosis.
