Article

Indications for acromioplasty are based on clinical
symptoms and are generally supported by typical changes in acromial morphology on
standard radiographs. We evaluated 5 commonly used radiographic parameters of
acromial morphology and assessed the association between different radiographic
characteristics on the one hand and subacromial impingement or rotator cuff tears
on the other. METHODS: We measured acromial type (Bigliani),
acromial slope (AS), acromial tilt (AT), lateral acromial angle (LAA), and
acromion index (AI) on standard radiographs from 50 patients with full-thickness
supraspinatus tendon tears, 50 patients with subacromial impingement, and 50
controls without subacromial pathology. RESULTS: The acromial type according to
Bigliani was not associated with any particular cuff lesion. A statistically
significant difference between controls and impingement patients was found for
AS. AT of controls was significantly smaller than that of impingement patients
and cuff-tear patients. LAA of cuff-tear patients differed significantly from
that of controls and impingement patients, but LAA of controls was not
significantly different from that of impingement patients. Differences between
impingement patients and cuff-tear patients were also significant. AI of controls
was significantly lower than of impingement patients and of cuff-tear patients. A
good correlation was found between acromial type and AS. INTERPRETATION: A low
lateral acromial angle and a large lateral extension of the acromion were
associated with a higher prevalence of impingement and rotator cuff tears. An
extremely hooked anterior acromion with a slope of more than 43 degrees and an
LAA of less than 70 degrees only occurred in patients with rotator cuff tears.

Langue : ANGLAIS