Objective: To investigate the relationship between glenoid inclination or version and supraspinatus tendon full-thickness tears.
Methods: Forty-two cases of unilateral supraspinatus tendon full-thickness tears were confirmed by clinical examinations and MRI scans. The bilateral glenoid inclination and version angles, measured by the volume rendering technique (VRT) and multi-planar reformation (MPR) of multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) under 16-slice spiral CT scans, were compared by paired t test in all cases.
Results: The average inclination angle was (97.6 ± 4.0)° and (96.1 ± 2.9) at affected and healthy sides respectively. And the difference had statistical significance (P = 0.001); the average version angle was (-3.2 ± 5.0)° and (-3.1 ± 4.7)° at affected and healthy sides respectively. And the difference had no statistical significance (P = 0.79).
Conclusion: The glenoid inclination angles are correlated with supraspinatus tendon full thickness tears while but the glenoid version angles are not. A larger glenoid inclination angle may be a positive predictive factor of supraspinatus tendon full-thickness tears.