MR intensity measurements of nondenervated muscle in patients following severe forearm trauma

• Published in: NMR in biomedicine 2011-08, Vol.24 (7), p.895-901
• Main Authors: Viddeleer, A.R., Sijens, P.E., van Ooijen, P.M.A., Kuypers, P.D.L., Hovius, S.E.R., Oudkerk, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Denervation; Edema; Edema - pathology; Female; Forearm; Forearm Injuries - pathology; Forearm Injuries - surgery; Hand; Hand - anatomy & histology; Hand - physiology; Humans; Injuries; Inversion; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Middle Aged; MRI; muscle; Muscle Denervation; Muscle, Skeletal - innervation; Muscle, Skeletal - pathology; Muscles; N.M.R; Nerves; signal intensity; STIR; Trauma; Wounds; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0952-3480; 1099-1492; 1099-1492
• DOI: 10.1002/nbm.1647

Fluid increases resulting in higher MRI signal intensities in T2‐weighted and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences can be used to diagnose nerve injury. By comparing the signal intensities over time, MRI may become a new method for monitoring the healing process. Muscle edema is assessed by comparing the signal intensity of affected muscle with that of nonaffected muscle. However, in severe forearm trauma, the signal of nondenervated muscle may also be increased by wound edema, thus masking the effect of denervation. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of wound edema on muscle signal intensity in 29 consecutive patients examined on a 1.5‐T MRI scanner at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after severe forearm trauma. The long‐term course of wound edema and the influence of wound distance were thus investigated using a standardized imaging, calibration and post‐processing protocol. The signal intensities of nondenervated intrinsic hand muscles were measured in the affected and contralateral sides. Muscle signal intensities were increased on the trauma side at 1 and 3 months (18% and 7.4%, respectively; p