The role of MRI in the evaluation of muscle diseases

Abstract The aim of the work To assess the role of MRI in the early detection and evaluation of some muscle diseases and its prognostic value for the follow up. Patients and methods The study is carried out on 40 patients (20 males and 20 females) suffering from different muscle diseases and 8 control group patients (4 males and 4 females); 27.5% are below 20 years of age, 35% are between 21 and 40 years and 37.5% are above 40. A conventional MRI study is performed on all patients; to study the value of qualitative, semi-quantitative and quantitative analyses for the estimation of full disease extent and the follow up. The Spearman correlation coefficient model is used to correlate the semi-quantitative MR imaging grade and clinical assessments. Proton MRS is also performed to quantify the key intra-myocellular metabolites. Results Calf muscles (gastrocnemius and soleus) and gluteus maximus muscle had the highest T2 values. The mean T2 values and semiquantitative MR imaging grade of fatty infiltration and edema show a significant correlation with the clinical grading of muscle power. Conclusion MRI is a useful tool for assessing muscle diseases particularly with the implementation of the up to date analytic methods.