title: Congenital muscular torticollis: magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound diagnosis.
abstract: The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and sonographic appearances of congenital muscular torticollis were studied in a 6-week-old female infant who presented with a firm mass in the right sternocleidomastoid muscle and clinical signs of torticollis. MRI and ultrasound were performed to exclude neoplasm. MRI showed a diffusely enlarged, right sternocleidomastoid muscle that was isointense to normal muscle on T1-weighted conventional spin-echo images. The muscle became progressively brighter and more heterogeneous in signal intensity on proton density- and T2-weighted conventional spin-echo sequences. A thin rim of bright signal intensity on the T2-weighted images surrounded most of the muscle. Ultrasound demonstrated fusi-form enlargement with patchy inhomogeneous areas of increased echogenicity. At 14 weeks there were signs of clinical improvement, with softening of the mass and decreased torticollis.
authors.affiliation: Morton Plant Mease Health Care, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Entel
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Carolan
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D014103:Torticollis / Q000151:congenital* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014463:Ultrasonography