[Magnetic resonance tomography and histopathologic findings after muscle denervation. A comparative animal experiment...

Recently, MRI was described as a method in the diagnosis of changes of muscle after acute neurogenic muscle atrophy. This study was performed to compare MRI results with myopathological findings, to document the appearance of the MRI changes and to check the sensitivity of this method. We performed a segment resection of the suprascapular nerve resulting in a denervation of the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles on 18 Newzeeland white rabbits. MRI changes were followed and documented for two months in short periods of time. The results were compared with histological findings. In myopathology and MRI we found systematical changes: Apart from the reduction of the muscle diameter visual assessment revealed increased signal intensities on the 21st and 35th examination day after denervation. On the 2nd, 5th, 11th and 64th examination day signal intensities were normal. The changes were represented by calculated T2 times, too.