MRI appearance of muscle denervation

Muscle denervation results from a variety of causes including trauma, neoplasia, neuropathies, infections, autoimmune processes and vasculitis. Traditionally, the diagnosis of muscle denervation was based on clinical examination and electromyography. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers a distinc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Skeletal radiology 2008-05, Vol.37 (5), p.397-404
Main Authors: Kamath, S., Venkatanarasimha, N., Walsh, M. A., Hughes, P. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Electrodiagnosis. Electric activity recording
Electromyography
Humans
Imaging
Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Medical sciences
Medicine & Public Health
Muscle, Skeletal - innervation
Nervous system
Nuclear Medicine
Orthopedics
Osteoarticular system. Muscles
Pathology
Peripheral Nervous System Diseases - diagnosis
Peripheral Nervous System Diseases - etiology
Peripheral Nervous System Diseases - physiopathology
Radiodiagnosis. Nmr imagery. Nmr spectrometry
Radiology
Review Article
Severity of Illness Index
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Summary:Muscle denervation results from a variety of causes including trauma, neoplasia, neuropathies, infections, autoimmune processes and vasculitis. Traditionally, the diagnosis of muscle denervation was based on clinical examination and electromyography. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers a distinct advantage over electromyography, not only in diagnosing muscle denervation, but also in determining its aetiology. MRI demonstrates characteristic signal intensity patterns depending on the stage of muscle denervation. The acute and subacutely denervated muscle shows a high signal intensity pattern on fluid sensitive sequences and normal signal intensity on T1-weighted MRI images. In chronic denervation, muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration demonstrate high signal changes on T1-weighted sequences in association with volume loss. The purpose of this review is to summarise the MRI appearance of denervated muscle, with special emphasis on the signal intensity patterns in acute and subacute muscle denervation.
ISSN:0364-2348
1432-2161
DOI:10.1007/s00256-007-0409-0