Admassie, Daniel (Professor of radiology, Consultant Radiologist)Gezahegne, Hiwot2021-06-252023-11-052021-06-252023-11-052019http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/26962Background: Shoulder pain is the third commonest cause of pain of all musculoskeletal related complaints. The diagnosis of shoulder pathologies is based primarily upon the results of clinical tests and imaging findings. Of the imaging modalities Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is sensitive and accurate non-invasive tool in the investigation of shoulder pathology. Since the introduction of MR in this country, no data has been made available about the MR imaging findings of patients presenting with shoulder pain. Objective: The aim of the present study is to determine the imaging pattern of various shoulder pathologies, as seen on MRI, in patients presenting with shoulder pain at St Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, which is one of the tertiary and teaching hospitals in Addis Ababa. Method: This is an institutional based descriptive cross sectional study in which a total of 101 patients satisfying the inclusion criteria over a period of sixteen months were included. The MR images were read using structured reporting. Statistical analysis of the findings was then done using the software SPSS version 25. Result: There were 54 (53.5%) male and 47 (46.6%) female patients. The age ranged from twenty to seventy years. The mean age was 43.81years.The most common indication to have an MRI was chronic pain accounting for 70 (69.2%) of the cases and the right shoulder was imaged more than the left with the ratio of 2.15:1. Rotator cuff disease is the most common pathology of glenohumeral joint, for which MRI was done. Involvement of supraspinatus tendon was 64.3% in all the pathologies. Of the 41 patients diagnosed with supraspinatus tear, partial tear was seen in 34 patients (82.9%) and complete tear was seen in 7 (17%) patients. Degenerative disease of the AC joint was the second most common pathology detected and it was associated with supraspinatus tendon pathology and sub acromial sub deltoid bursitis. 15.8% of the cases had a normal MR finding in this study. Conclusion: Rotator cuff pathology and AC joint arthritis were the two commonest pathologies detected on MR, and supraspinatus tendon was the most common involved tendon with pathology. Though MRI is the preferred test for evaluating rotator cuff pathology and impingement syndrome, the cost and burden of ordering MR is significant. Proper indications and the relevance of the findings should be well evaluated and guide lines should be prepared for the imaging of patients with shoulder pain.en-USMR Imaging, Shoulder pain ,PatientsThesis