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01-04-2019 | Scientific Article

A pilot study assessing T1-weighted muscle MRI in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Authors: Luca Diamanti, Enrico Alfonsi, Ottavia Eleonora Ferraro, Cristina Cereda, Orietta Pansarasa, Stefano Bastianello, Anna Pichiecchio

Published in: Skeletal Radiology | Issue 4/2019

Abstract

The authors set out to study the role of T1-weighted muscle MRI in the diagnostic phase of ALS, comparing images from ten patients and nine age-matched healthy controls (HCs). All subjects underwent MRI of 68 muscles in the hands, paraspinal regions and lower limbs; the images were semi-quantitatively scored. Atrophy was more frequent in muscles of ALS patients than HCs (p < 0.0001); fatty infiltration was particularly marked in iliopsoas (p = 0.046), anterior (p = 0.020) and posterior (p = 0.047) calf muscles in patients. A trend towards agreement was found between MRI and clinic-EMG data for the first dorsal interosseous, paraspinal, and tibial anterior muscles. Muscle T1-weighted MRI can distinguish ALS patients from HCs for specific regions (i.e., legs). MRI abnormalities could be found in pauci-symptomatic spinal muscles in bulbar-onset patients. Muscle MRI may be a useful diagnostic tool in ALS, in particular for muscles difficult to investigate using clinical-EMG methods.

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Title: A pilot study assessing T1-weighted muscle MRI in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Authors: Luca Diamanti
Enrico Alfonsi
Ottavia Eleonora Ferraro
Cristina Cereda
Orietta Pansarasa
Stefano Bastianello
Anna Pichiecchio
Publication date: 01-04-2019
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Skeletal Radiology / Issue 4/2019
Print ISSN: 0364-2348
Electronic ISSN: 1432-2161
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-018-3073-7

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A pilot study assessing T1-weighted muscle MRI in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

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