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MRI of muscle strain injuries
1Department of Radiology, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Objective:
The purpose of our study was to evaluate (a) the characteristics of muscle strain injuries on MRI and (b) the potential of a frequency-selective fat suppression technique for diagnosing such injuries.
Materials And Methods:
Muscle strain injuries in seven athletes were examined by MRI. Spin echo sequences were obtained with and without fat suppression sequences. The absolute values of the contrast-to-noise (C/N) ratios for lesion versus muscle or fat were then compared for both types of images.
Results:
We obtained two types of characteristic findings for muscle strain. Lesions of the fascia and adjacent muscles showed a characteristic spray-like or fan-like appearance, extending longitudinally from a shared tendon to the muscle belly in five athletes. This finding was better displayed on coronal images. In contrast, lesions inside a muscle showed a diffuse and inhomogeneous appearance in two athletes. The absolute C/N ratios for lesion versus fat and lesion versus muscle were not significantly different for images with and without fat suppression according to the sign test. However, fat-suppressed images revealed subtle abnormalities that were not seen on conventional images.
Conclusion:
Magnetic resonance can provide detailed information on muscle strain injuries, especially when coronal fat-suppressed images are obtained.