• S Mayer, P Hahn, T Bruckner, and F Unglaub.
• Handchirurgie, Vulpius Klinik, Bad Rappenau.
• Handchir Mikrochir Plast Chir. 2013 Feb 1;45(1):26-32.

PurposeThe purpose of this retrospective study was to examine the sensitivity and specificity of preoperatively performed MRI of the wrist in identifying tears of the scapholunate ligament. Additionally, these findings were then compared with findings from a subsequently performed -arthroscopy of the wrist.Patients And MethodsThe study was based on the MRI records of 401 patients who received MRI examinations between January 2004 and April 2012 in the context of ulnar-sided wrist pain. Subsequently, all patients received an arthroscopy of the wrist. The study included 218 male and 183 female patients with an average age of 42.4±14.3 years (range 12-84 years). The MRI examinations were conducted in various techniques and with various sequences. The MRI findings were evaluated by 88 experienced radiologists. The arthroscopies were performed by 16 experienced hand-surgeons who had seen the MRI results prior to the surgical intervention. -Arthroscopic findings were compared with MRI records and used as the benchmark.ResultsOnly 31 of 98 arthroscopically verified cases of a torn scapholunate ligament could be identified in an MRI examination. In contrast, MRI could correctly diagnose an intact ligament in 269 out of 276 arthroscopically verified cases. When compared with arthroscopy MRI sensitivity and specificity were 32% and 98%, respectively. In 91 out of 401 MRI examinations the use of a dedicated surface coil was recorded. In 66 out of 401 MRI examinations the use of contrast medium was documented. MRI specificity slightly improved upon use of contrast medium.ConclusionThe comparison of MRI vs. arthroscopic sensitivity and specificity in the detection of scapholunate tears on a sufficiently large group of patients showed MRI to be a reliable method in excluding scapholunate ligament tears. Outside of clinical study conditions, however, it was found to be an unsuitable method in identifying and classifying scapholunate ligament tears. The high MRI sensitivity found by other studies could not be confirmed in our study.© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

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