Inflammatory myopathies include a wide broad of skeletal muscles disorders which can be isolated when confined to a single muscle or to a group of muscles, or diffuse, when there is widespread involvement of multiple muscular units. Clinical features are continuous muscular pain associated with contracture, functional limitation and occasional symptoms such as numbness and tingling nerve and vegetative dysfunction. Often, the muscular initial alteration involves successively muscular fascia, thus identifying myofascitis. Muscular and musculofascial disorders can be idiopathic or secondary to other conditions. In...

MRI was performed on a 1.5 Tesla scanner using a multichannel phased-array peripheral coil with the patient lying supine. The imaging protocol for all examinations included a fast STIR sequence (TR/TE, 3500-6000,00/55; inversion time, 150 msec) in the coronal or axial plane, an axial T1-weighted spin-echo sequence (TR/TE, 300–420/9–16), and an axial T2-weighted fat-suppressed fast spin-echo (3,500-5000/57–100; echo-train length, 8) or STIR (3,500–5,500/33; inversion time, 150 msec) sequence. In addition, all MRI examinations included acquisition of axial T1-weighted fat- suppressed spin-echo images (300–420/9–16) after injection...

Abnormal MRI signal of the musculature is a typical finding in myopathies. The superficial and deep muscle fasciae were evaluated for the presence of fascial thickening, signal abnormalities, and fluid collections on T1-weighted, T2-weighted and long-TR fat-suppressed images (Fig. 1). In all patients a so-called “comb-like” signal alteration was found on long-TR sequences involving in 8 cases hip and pelvis muscles, in 3 cases thigh muscles and in 1 case leg muscles. This particular appearance tracing out muscular fibers and fasciae was suggestive for musculofascial...

The typical MRI finding in patients with myofascitis consists of a focal or diffuse pattern of high signal intensity (“comb-like”) on long-TR fat-suppressed sequences involving musculofascial structures, related to tissue edema. MRI allows a correct balance of pathological extension and the individuation of possible subfascial fluid collections. Although MRI is very sensitive in detection of tissue edema, it is not specific in distinguishing different forms of myopathies. For that reason when a “comb-like” appearance is present it indicates an aspecific musculofascial inflammatory process. Definitive diagnosis...

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Laura Conti MD Department of Radiology University of L'Aquila 67100, L'Aquila, Italy [email protected]