title: Muscle edema in MR imaging of neuromuscular diseases.
abstract: Muscle edema has been described as a typical finding on MR images in acute neuromuscular disorders, predominantly in acute inflammatory myopathies, but also in neuro- and myopathies. The purpose of this study was to examine the frequency of muscle edema and the diagnostic usefulness of Gd-DTPA in neuromuscular diseases. 144 consecutive patients with various generalized neuromuscular diseases were examined by MR imaging. Areas of high signal intensity, relative to normal muscle, were seen in 36% of T2-weighted images, whereas the corresponding T1-weighted images showed normal or lower signal intensities. These edema-like abnormalities--enlargement of the extracellular fluid space--were found more often in inflammatory and metabolic myopathies, but were also seen in degenerative myopathies. Contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images in 25 patients were not more sensitive than plain T2-weighted images.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilian's University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schedel
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Reimers
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vogl
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Witt
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003287:Contrast Media; D004487:Edema / Q000473:pathology*; D005110:Extracellular Space; D005260:Female; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D007866:Leg; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology*; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D009220:Myositis / Q000473:pathology; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA