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Updated: Feb 7, 2026
Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Skeletal Muscle Disease
Published on: December 18, 2016
Magnetic resonance imaging of masticatory muscles in basset hounds
A Lorek1, S E Spencer2, R Dennis1
1Animal Health Trust, Centre for Small Animal Studies, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 7UU, UK.
Objectives:
To describe low- and high-field MRI characteristics of occult masticatory muscle lesions in basset hounds.
Materials And Methods:
Retrospective review of the MR images of the heads of 44 basset hounds that had been imaged for reasons unrelated to suspected muscle disease.
Results:
In most basset hounds, there was reduced bulk of the superficial part of the temporalis and masseter muscles together with bilaterally symmetrical T2W and T1W hyperintense signal with reduced contrast enhancement compared to normal muscle. Interpretation of various pulse sequences suggested that the affected muscle areas contained adipose tissue with no evidence of inflammation, and this was confirmed on biopsy in one dog. This pattern of changes is different from MRI changes in inflammatory myopathies.
Clinical Significance:
Poor muscle bulk and MRI signal changes in the superficial parts of the temporalis and masseter muscles in basset hounds appear to be normal findings in this breed and should not be misinterpreted as evidence of an inflammatory myopathy.
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