B. Alvarez de Sierra Garcia, A. Kassarjian, Francisco Guillén Grima , P. Nieto Moreno, A. Alonso Burgos, Jesús Dámaso Aquerreta Beola
Objective:To evaluate the accuracy of shear wave elastography (SWE) ultrasound in the assess-ment and quantification of fatty infiltration (FI) of the supraspinatus (SSP) muscle with the Gou-tallier classification on CTas the reference standard.Materials and Methods:Prospective study of 90 patients from December 2020 to August 2022who had undergone shoulder US including SWE for the assessment of rotator cuff disease and hada previous CT with the shoulder included. Shear modulus (in meters per second) was estimatedusing ultrasound SWE in three regions of the SSP (myotendinous junction, anterior and posteriormuscle bundle). Data collected included age, sex, and fatty muscle infiltration on CT (Goutallierstages 0IV). Pearson correlation between CT Goutallier stage of the FI of the supraspinatus andSWE value in each region of the supraspinatus muscle was determined. Bland-Altman indexeswere used to assess agreement between readers.Results:There were statistically significant differences in the SWE and the different Goutalliergroups in the SWE of anterior bundle muscle, posterior bundle muscle, and myotendinous junc-tion (p=<0.001, 0.008, 0.031, respectively). The differences were significant for SWE of theanterior bundle muscle among the different subgroups of Goutallier stage (I-IV,p=<0.001).Conclusion:SWE shows an excellent correlation with the Goutallier stage on CT in detecting,qualifying, and quantifying fatty infiltration of the supraspinatus. SWE may be useful in quantifying supraspinatus muscle quality in athletes competing in racquet sports and in othersports with overhead motions such as swimming, volleyball and javelin.