Muscle Fat Infiltration in Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy 2I: A Comparison of Qualitative T1w and Quantitative Dixon Imaging

Kieren Grant Hollingsworth¹, Tracey A. Willis², Anna Coombs³, Anna Mayhew², Michelle Eagle², Andrew Mark Blamire¹, Volker Straub²

LGMD2I leads to muscle wasting, necrosis, and fat infiltration. Future trials of therapy require robust measures of fat infiltration and infiltration pattern to determine whether muscle deterioration can be arrested. T1w imaging and 3-point Dixon was performed at calf and thigh for 13 diagnosed LGMD2I patients and 6 age-matched controls. A 6-point scale assessment and region-of-interest quantitative analysis of calf and thigh muscles in one cross-section were performed. Generally, thigh muscles were more fat infiltrated than the calf muscles. Qualitative and quantitative measures were significantly correlated, though there was considerable overlap of fat percentages at the lower qualitative grades.