Table I.
Characteristics of included studies.
| Study | Study design | Sample size | Tear location | Key findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chua et al 202112 | Prospective | 21 patients | Supraspinatus tendon | Sutures migrating to the middle of the tendon during the postoperative healing process is a normal phenomenon observed on ultrasonography. |
| Deng et al 20213 | Validity | 80 patients | Supraspinatus tendon | SWE with SWV might identify degree of supraspinatus tendon tear and improve the value of ultrasonography. |
| Lawrence et al 202132 | Descriptive | 22 patients | Supraspinatus tendon | Utility of ultrasound SWE in this population (ie, patients with a small to medium supraspinatus rotator cuff tear) before surgical rotator cuff repair remains unclear. |
| Nocera et al 20218 | Prospective cohort | 12 patients | Supraspinatus tendon | Significant correlation occurred between TMR and SWE at 6 mo or with power Doppler at any time point. |
| Sakaki et al 202121 | Case control | 26 participants | Supraspinatus muscle | Anterior superficial region in patients with rotator cuff tear was mainly responsible for reduced active stiffness. |
| Sakaki et al 202128 | Case series | 8 patients | Supraspinatus muscle | Active stiffness of the anterior superficial region may improve 6 mo rather than 3 mo postoperatively because of the different stages of muscle force, structural repair tendon strength, and remodeling. |
| Hackett et al 202014 | Validity | 20 patients | Supraspinatus tendon | Excellent intrarater trial agreement, with an intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.96. In the interrater testing, the mean shear wave velocity in normal tendons was 9.90 ± 0.07 m/s (= 294 kPa), with intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.45. |
| Lin et al 202023 | Retrospective | 88 patients | Supraspinatus muscle and tendon | SWE can detect biomechanical differences within the supraspinatus muscle that are not morphologically evident on gray-scale ultrasound. |
| Itoigawa et al 202036 | Prospective cohort | 60 patients | Supraspinatus muscle and tendon | The SWE value of the muscle in the retear group was greater than in the healed group at 1 mo after surgery (P < .05). |
| Itoigawa et al 201826 | Descriptive | 38 patients | Supraspinatus tendon | The highest correlation with stiffness of the supraspinatus musculotendinous unit was with the SWE modulus of the posterior deep muscle. |
| Baumer et al 201824 | Case control | 30 tendons | Supraspinatus muscle | Tendon stiffness positively associated with age under passive and active conditions; softer tendon resulted from muscle activation. |
| Gilbert et al 201730 | Cross-sectional | 42 patients | Supraspinatus muscle | SWE may be a sufficient tool in detecting and estimating the amount of fatty degeneration in the supraspinatus muscle in real time. |
| Hou et al 201731 | Observational | 53 tendons | Supraspinatus muscle | Decrease in tendon stiffness in the proximal tendon in symptomatic patients; no difference seen in the distal tendon. |
| Krepkin et al 201725 | Validity | 9 tendons | Supraspinatus muscle | Negative correlation between T2 MRI and tendon stiffness. |
| Rosskopf et al 201629 | Validity | 8 tendons | Supraspinous muscle | Excellent reliability (interclass CC: 0.89; intraclass CC: 0.7-0.8); stiffer tendon in controls than in patients. |
| Itoigawa et al. 201527 |
Descriptive | 3 patients | Supraspinatus tendon | SWE combined with B-mode ultrasound imaging could be a feasible method for quantifying the local stiffness of the rotator cuff muscles. |
SWE, shear wave elastography; SWV, shear wave velocity; TMR, tendon-to-deltoid muscle; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; B-mode, brightness mode; CC, correlation coefficient.