Nina F.
Schwenzer1,2, Christina Schraml1,2, Ina Ktter3,
Jrg C. Henes3, Claus D. Claussen1, Fritz Schick2,
Marius Horger1
1Department of Diagnostic and
Interventional Radiology, University Hospital of Tbingen, Tbingen, BW,
Germany; 2Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology,
Section on Experimental Radiology, University Hospital of Tbingen, Tbingen,
BW, Germany; 3Department of Internal Medicine II, University
Hospital of Tbingen, Tbingen, BW, Germany
Systemic
sclerosis is an autoimmune disease characterized by fibrosis, predominantly
of the skin and vessels but also of internal organs and the skeletal muscle.
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is able to display diffusional characteristics
of tissue. It seems plausible that water diffusivity within the muscle will
change due to inflammation and subsequent fibrosis. Our results showed that
the mean diffusivity increased in affected muscle groups while the fractional
anisotropy did not change compared to healthy volunteers. This might be
explained by the fact that the inflammatory processes affect mainly the
perimysium of the muscle while the muscle fiber remains unchanged.