[Information on the X-ray morphology of muscle atrophies (author's transl)]

Using a special soft ray roentgenograph technique, the authors examined in 46 patients the musculature of extremities which was compulsorily inactivated. Inactivity in adults leads to reduction of volume in the muscle, not, however, to striation which would indicate fiber destruction. Congenital or early acquired restriction of mobility will necessarily produce lack of further development of the muscles concerned. If movement is completely excluded, striation indicating fiber destruction will be noticed in the atrophied muscles. The authors quote a case where the changes in the soft parts and bones of the extremities were noticeable as a result of congenital parietal lesion. The roentgenography of the musculature, as described in this article, permits the physician to arrive at new conclusions regarding the differentiation of the various kinds of muscular atrophy.