1043-3155 Pediatr Neurol Briefs pedneurbriefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs Pediatric Neurology Briefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs 2166-6482 1043-3155 2166-3155 Pediatric Neurology Briefs Publishers Chicago, IL, USA PNB-4-96 10.15844/pedneurbriefs-4-12-11 Muscle Disease Neurology Pediatrics Nervous System Diseases Child Development Brain Diseases Neurosurgery Child Infant MRI in Childhood Dermatomyositis http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0173-7931 Millichap J. Gordon MD 1 2 * Division of Neurology, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL Correspondence: Dr. J. Gordon Millichap, E-mail: jgmillichap@northwestern.edu 12 1990 01 08 2016 4 12 96 96 Copyright: © 1990 The Author(s) 1990 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Magnetic resonance imaging appearance of the muscles in childhood dermatomyositis

The demonstration of muscle involvement using the MRI in four patients with dermatomyositis is reported from the Departments of Radiology and Pediatrics, University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor, MI.

 Dermatomyositis Intensity Ratio Progressive Clinical Improvement

The demonstration of muscle involvement using the MRI in four patients with dermatomyositis is reported from the Departments of Radiology and Pediatrics, University of Michigan Hospitals, Ann Arbor, MI. Ages ranged from 4½ to 18 years (median 8 years). The affected muscles had increased signal intensity on the T2 weighted images and normal appearance on the T1 weighted sequence. The mean intensity ratio for the patients with dermatomyositis differed significantly from that of four normal control children. Muscle groups with higher intensity ratios had lower scores on functional testing. Follow-up MRI scans demonstrated normal findings after treatment, coincident with progressive clinical improvement. [1]

COMMENT. The authors concluded that the MRI may be useful in the evaluation of dermatomyositis in children because it 1) is noninvasive, 2) has clear signal changes in affected muscle, 3) shows positive results at an early stage, 4) is a guide for biopsy, and 5) may assist in monitoring of the disease progress. The MRI appearances of muscles affected by hypotonic syndromes and muscular dystrophies differ from those of muscles affected by dermatomyositis. Ultrasound has been used in the diagnosis of patients with muscular dystrophy.

 Hernandez RJ Keim DR Sullivan DB Chenevert TL Martel W Magnetic resonance imaging appearance of the muscles in childhood dermatomyositis J Pediatr 1990 Oct 117 4 546 50 10.1016/S0022-3476(05)80686-9 2213376