[NMR tomography of the shoulder joint: clinical experiences with the saturation pulse technic]

High zoom factors for MRT of the shoulder joint can lead to disturbing artifacts. The use of special saturation coils can improve longitudinal magnetisation of the central image, making it possible to produce artifact-free images of the shoulder with high resolution. Two normals and 20 patients with the rotator cuff syndrome, as well as other inflammatory and neoplastic processes, have been examined. The findings have been correlated with those of arthrography, arthro-sonography, bone scintigraphy, CT and simple radiographic examination. The MRT findings were compared with the other imaging techniques and the results are discussed. MRT proved superior to other techniques, particularly in the elucidation of soft tissue abnormalities in the rotator cuff syndrome.