Congenital contracture of the quadriceps muscle: a case report with magnetic resonance imaging.
BACKGROUND
Case report of a rare form of congenital contracture of the quadriceps muscle. Congenital contracture of the quadriceps muscle is encountered very rarely in daily orthopaedic practice. A few cases have been reported, but unfortunately these did not detail the MRI findings of congenital contracture.


METHODS
A 34-year-old woman presented with difficulty in sitting with full flexion of the bilateral knee joints. She had no history of intramuscular injection, and her brother had a similar abnormality. A physical and radiographical review of the case was conducted.


RESULTS
A palpable corded induration was detected in the quadriceps muscle which prevented further flexion of the bilateral knee joints. Magnetic resonance imaging of both thighs demonstrated marked atrophy of the rectus femoris muscle and dark signal intensity of the muscle on both T1-weighted and T2-weighted images. It was suggested that the muscles had been replaced by fibrosis.


CONCLUSIONS
This appears to be the first report to include MRI findings of congenital contracture. Clinical awareness of congenital contracture with unique clinical symptoms and radiographic findings may aid the correct diagnosis.
Nozawa
Satoshi
S
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kyoto City Hospital, Kyoto, Japan. noza@cc.gifu-u.ac.jp
Tanaka
Chiaki
C
Shikata
Jitsuhiko
J
Yamamuro
Takao
T
D000328:Adult; D003286:Contracture / Q000151:congenital* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005355:Fibrosis; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology*; D013848:Thigh