ORIGINAL PAPER
Reliability of musculoskeletal ultrasound imaging to measure calcific deposits in patients with calcified rotator cuff tendinopathy
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1
University Institute of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
 
2
School of Management, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan
 
3
Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Khyber Medical University, Islamabad, Pakistan
 
 
Submission date: 2020-09-03
 
 
Acceptance date: 2020-11-02
 
 
Publication date: 2022-09-26
 
 
Physiother Quart. 2022;30(3):34-38
 
KEYWORDS
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ABSTRACT
Introduction:
This reliability study was designed to assess intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of musculoskeletal ultrasound as a diagnostic modality to measure calcific deposits in subjects with rotator cuff tendinopathy.

Methods:
Overall, 15 participants (10 males, 5 females) with calcified shoulder, aged 32–55 years, were examined in the same sitting posture. Two experienced radiologists imaged calcific deposits, measured twice daily by both raters with an interval of 2 hours for within-day reliability and re-measured after 1 week for between-day reliability. Data were analysed by using intra-class and inter-class correlation coefficient.

Results:
The mean size of calcific deposits in supraspinatus tendons was 14.61 ± 1.78, 14.87 ± 1.77, and 14.88 ± 1.88 mm for the first rater and 14.89 ± 1.78, 14.98 ± 1.792, and 15.13 ± 1.84 mm for the second rater. The results reflected excellent reliability, with the intra-class correlation coefficient for within-day comparison calculated as 0.989 (0.975–0.996) for the first rater and 0.984 (0.963–0.994) for the second rater (p = 0.000). The inter-class correlation coefficient for between-rater comparison equalled 0.991 for the first measurements by the first and second raters, 0.984 for the second measurements, and 0.986 for the third measurements.

Conclusions:
A high degree of within-day and between-day reliability was observed between the successive measurements. This shows that musculoskeletal ultrasound is a highly reliable diagnostic tool for measuring the size of calcific deposits in patients with tendinopathy.

 
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