The diagnosis of inflammatory muscular and vascular diseases using MRT with STIR sequences

Abstract

The role of MRT in the prebiopsy diagnosis of muscular and vascular inflammatory conditions was evaluated prospectively and an optimal method of examination was investigated. 92 patients with a suspected diagnosis of myositis (60 cases) or vasculitis (32 cases) were examined, in each case two extremities were studied using transverse T1 and T2 weighted SE sequences and double echo STIR sequences on a 0.5 Tesla (56 patients) or 1.5 Tesla magnet (36 patients; T5/S15 Gyroscan, Philips). The site of the biopsy depended on the MRT findings. In 41 patients the suspected diagnosis was confirmed histologically, in two patients an infective myositis was diagnosed on clinical grounds despite negative histology. MRT demonstrated muscle oedema in 86% of patients. There were negative findings after immuno-suppressive therapy (two patients), in focal myositis (3 out of 4 patients) and in one of 7 patients with untreated vasculitis. Amongst 49 patients in whom the suspected diagnosis could not be confirmed there was muscle oedema in 11 cases (9 neuropathies out of 22, two myopathies out of 10). Oedema indicated inflammatory muscular or vascular disease with a sensitivity of 97% (except in treated patients and for focal myositis). The number of false negative biopsies can be greatly reduced by the use of MRT.