Humeral Greater Tuberosity Size Measurement at CT Multiplanar Reconstruction

This study was designed to explore the precise size of the greater tuberosity of humerus in the Chinese population.

The radiologic study was performed on 66 computer tomography (CT) of the shoulder from the CTs hospital's scan database of the out-patient department from December 2018 to February 2020, including 26 women and 40 men with a mean age of 36.79 ± 9.17 years, with 41 right and 25 left shoulders. The width, height and thickness of the greater tuberosity were measured on CT image multiplanar reconstructions (MPR), which was independently conducted by two observers.

The average width was 31.39±2.74 (25.65-36.85) mm. The average height was 27.11±2.57 (21.05-33.50) mm. The average thickness was 11.45±1.18 (9.15-14.30) mm. The average proximal humerus (PH) thickness was 48.98±3.53 (41.40-55.20) mm. There were no significant differences in greater tuberosity (GT) width, GT height, GT thickness and PH thickness between the two observers. The total PH thickness was 51.06±2.30 (45.70-55.20) mm and 45.79±2.57 (41.40-51.25) mm for male and female cases. Gender has a significant impact on the results, men had a larger GT than women.

We got the precise size of the humeral greater tuberosity. These data provided important information for further research and clinical practice. The measuring the greater tuberosity with CT image MPR has good reliability.