Quantitative Studies of the Evolution of Diabetic Foot Lesions under EGF Treatment by Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The Diabetic Foot (DF) is a very complex entity, and the imaging feet studies are an actual problem. The purpose of this work is to obtain new quantitative information by Magnetic Resonance (MR) for the evaluation of the DF Ulcers (DFU) during treatment. The procedure was set up with ten healthy volunteers’ feet. MR studies of ten DFU patients were done previously and during epidermal growth factor (EGF) treatment. DFU size (area and volume) variations, edema volume changes, as well as the water apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and metabolites changes, were determined at different times by MR. MR Imaging (MRI) and Spectroscopy (MRS) provide new quantitative evidences related to the healing process. Decrease in injured area and volume, reduction of edema volume, and trend seen in ulcer ADC towards values seen in healthy zones, are all useful to characterize the DF response to therapy, and could be used in practice as status and evolution markers. Comparing the amplitude of MRS lines during treatment may also provide additional metabolic information. This MRI/MRS reported procedure might be also useful for evolution studies of other pedal disorders, for example, those associated with wounds, inflammatory processes, and tissues changes.