Diffusion-weighted MRI, dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI and ultrasound perfusion quantification of denervated muscle in rabbits

Abstract

The results of this study--based on perfusion- and diffusion-weighted images--suggest that, after denervation, both increased blood flow through muscle tissue and expansion of the extracellular water volume are present.

Imaging Patterns of Muscle Atrophy

“…35 Diffusion-weighted imaging, with the increase in apparent diffusion coefficient, corresponds to the increase of extracellular water. 31 Furthermore, denervated musculature shows gadolinium enhancement that can be detected 24 hours after the denervating event as well. 36 MR perfusion imaging is capable of detecting increased perfusion in denervated muscles compared with normal musculature.…”

“…Mercuri et al 25 Kornblum et al 24 Fischer et al 26 Goutallier et al 43 muscles show edema, resulting in prolongation of T2-relaxation time and thus increased signal intensity on short tau inversion recovery and other fat-saturated T2-weighted sequences. [30][31][32][33][34] The edema is caused by the widening of intramuscular capillaries and consecutive increase of extracellular fluid, can be detected after denervation using MRI as early as 24 hours, and reaches its maximum 4 weeks after denervation. 35 Diffusion-weighted imaging, with the increase in apparent diffusion coefficient, corresponds to the increase of extracellular water.…”

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Skeletal Musculature

“…The most prevailing clinical applications of DSC are stroke (Wang et al 2012;MacDonald et al 2011), cerebrovascular insufficiency (Crane et al 2012Calviere et al 2012) and brain tumors (Aronen et al 1993(Aronen et al , 1994, though it has been used on occasion to measure muscle perfusion in animal experiments (Rissanen et al 2005;Goyault et al 2012). …”

“…Mainly utilizing the well-established arterial ligation model (Jaspers et al 2010;Rissanen et al 2005;Luo et al 2002;De Lussanet et al 2007;Ziv et al 2004) several experiments have successfully quantified muscle perfusion in small animals using both DCE-MRI (Luo et al 2002;De Lussanet et al 2007;Ziv et al 2004;Loerakker et al 2011;Faranesh et al 2006;Cheng 2007) and DSC MRI (Rissanen et al 2005;Goyault et al 2012) administering a variety CAs [including blood pool agents (Jaspers et al 2010;Ziv et al 2004;Faranesh et al 2006;Cheng 2007) …”

Advancements in Imaging Technology: Do They (or Will They) Equate to Advancements in Our Knowledge of Recovery in Whiplash?

“…For example, significant increases in muscle ADC can be observed during and following brief submaximal isometric contractions, 133 following peripheral nerve injury and associated denervation, 48 and in individuals with subacute lumbosacral radiculopathy. 56 Although changes in ADC following denervation appear to precede findings from electrophysiological testing, 56 it remains unknown how the relative magnitude and time course of ADC changes relate to other pathophysiological muscle biomarkers (eg, MFI and potential MRSrelated findings).…”