[MRI results in experimental muscle injuries]

We performed an incision of standardized size and location on the suprascapularic muscle of 18 rabbits by a stab with a scalpel and measured the signal intensity of the muscle 2, 5, 11, 21, 35 and 64 days after injury (3 rabbits on each day). We did not find any detectable changes in the MRI pictures but a characteristic graph of the calculated T2-times (a mathematical procedure of the MRI software). The MRI changes correlate with the histopathological changes after muscle injury. The MRI method allows the evaluation of minor muscle trauma by the detection of a changed liquid content by using calculated T2 times.