[Ultrasound imaging of the muscle in muscular dystrophy]

Ultrasound imaging of muscle was performed on 40 patients of Duchenne muscular dystrophy on lower and upper extremities. In the control subjects, there was good visualization of bone and fascia with echo-free muscle tissue. With progression of the disease, the muscle echo was increased with corresponding loss of fascia echo in muscular dystrophy. A few advanced cases showed relatively echo-free muscle because of diffuse adipose tissue infiltration. Ultrasound imaging can reveal the muscular lesion and its distribution, and is valuable for monitoring the progression of the disease.