Abstract
Advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques can evaluate a wide array of
muscle pathologies including acute or chronic muscle injury, musculotendinous response
to injury, intramuscular collections and soft tissue masses, and others. In recent
years, MRI has played a more important role in muscle disease diagnosis and monitoring.
MRI provides excellent spatial and contrast resolution and helps direct optimal sites
for muscle biopsy. Whole-body MRI now helps identify signature patterns of muscular
involvement in large anatomical regions with relative ease. Quantitative MRI has advanced
the evaluation and disease tracking of muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration in entities
such as muscular dystrophies. Multivoxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) now
allows a more thorough, complete evaluation of a muscle of interest without the inherent
sampling bias of single-voxel MRS or biopsy. Diffusion MRI allows quantification of
muscle inflammation and capillary perfusion as well as muscle fiber tracking.
Keywords
MRI - muscle - quantitative MRI - MR spectroscopy - diffusion imaging
