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Greater tuberosity ratio correlated with CT for superior fracture displacement
Greater tuberosity ratio correlated very well with CT for superior greater tuberosity fracture displacement, performing as well as or better than other classification methods, according to study results.
Researchers performed a retrospective review of shoulder radiographs to identify all cases of isolated greater tuberosity (GT) fractures with both radiography and CT from 2007 to 2010. GT ratio was performed on all radiography and correlated with superior GT displacement measured on CT; GT ratio was then tested for accuracy of surgical decision using 5-mm superior displacement on CT as the cutoff. Neer and Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Osteosynthesefragen (AO) classifications were compared with calculations of inter- and intraobserver reliabilities of the GT ratio.
The researchers identified 40 cases of acute GT fractures using radiography and CT. Not only did GT ratio correlate with superior displacement on CT, but it also accurately classified GT fractures as surgical and nonsurgical; GT ratio of zero or less classified as nonsurgical, 0.50 or more as surgical, and from zero to 0.50 warranted further imaging.
For inter- and intraobserver reliabilities, the researchers found GT ratio performed as well as or better than AO and Neer classification.
Disclosure: The authors have no relevant financial disclosures.