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Updated: May 1, 2026
Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Skeletal Muscle Disease
Published on: December 18, 2016
Muscle MR imaging in tubular aggregate myopathy
Valeria Beltrame1, Paolo Ortolan1, Alessandro Coran1
1Department of Medicine, Section of Radiology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Purpose:
To evaluate with Magnetic Resonance (MR) the degree of fatty replacement and edematous involvement in skeletal muscles in patients with Tubular Aggregate Myopathy (TAM). To asses the inter-observer agreement in evaluating muscle involvement and the symmetry index of fatty replacement.
Materials And Methods:
13 patients were evaluated by MR to ascertain the degree of fatty replacement (T1W sequences) according to Mercuri's scale, and edema score (STIR sequences) according to extent and site.
Results:
Fatty replacement mainly affects the posterior superficial compartment of the leg; the anterior compartment is generally spared. Edema was generally poor and almost only in the superficial compartment of the leg. The inter-observer agreement is very good with a Krippendorff's coefficient >0.9. Data show a total symmetry in the muscular replacement (McNemar-Bowker test with p = 1).
Conclusions:
MR reveals characteristic muscular involvement, and is a reproducible technique for evaluation of TAM. There may also be a characteristic involvement of the long and short heads of the biceps femoris. It is useful for aimed biopsies, diagnostic hypotheses and evaluation of disease progression.
