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Updated: Oct 27, 2025
Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Skeletal Muscle Disease
Published on: December 18, 2016
Quantitative assessment of muscle echogenicity in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A by automatic thresholding
Takamasa Kitaoji1, Yu-Ichi Noto2, Yuta Kojima1
1Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
Objective:
To investigate the utility of automatic thresholding methods for quantitative muscle echogenicity assessment as a marker of disease severity in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A).
Methods:
Muscle ultrasound was performed in 15 CMT1A patients and 7 healthy controls. Muscle echogenicity of six limb muscles in each subject was assessed by 16 automatic thresholding methods and conventional grey-scale analysis. Echogenicity of each method in CMT1A patients was compared with that in controls. A correlation between the echogenicity and CMT neuropathy score (CMTNS) was also analysed in CMT1A patients.
Results:
Significant differences in mean echogenicity of the 6 muscles between CMT1A patients and controls were found both in grey-scale analysis (p < 0.01) and 11 of the 16 automatic thresholding methods (p < 0.05 in each method). In CMT1A patients, mean echogenicity of the 6 muscles was positively correlated with CMTNS in 8 of the 16 automatic thresholding methods, but not in grey-scale analysis.
Conclusion:
Automatic thresholding methods can be used to detect the difference in muscle echogenicity between CMT1A patients and controls. Echogenicity parameters correlate with the disease severity.
Significance:
Quantitative muscle echogenicity assessment by automatic thresholding methods shows potential as a surrogate marker of disease progression in CMT1A.
