Nathan David Bryant1, Ravneet Vohra2,
Sunita Mathur3, Krista Vandenborne4, Glenn A. Walter5
1Radiology, Vanderbilt
University, Nashville, TN, United States; 2Physical Therapy,
University of Florida; 3Department of Physical Therapy, University
of Toronto, Canada; 4Department of Physical Therapy, University of
Florida; 5The Department of Physiology & Functional Genomic,
University of Florida
Dystrophic muscle is especially prone to injury during eccentric contractions. During cyclic bouts of damage and recovery, the muscle tissue undergoes various stages of remodeling. T2 and diffusion weighted MRI were used to observe changes associated with damage and repair in muscle tissue. This study set out to image eccentric damage in dystrophic muscle caused by downhill (-14) treadmill running for 15 - 20 minutes. The greatest difference was seen in λ3 and FA. A combined analysis of T2 and diffusion parameters appears to be a promising approach for monitoring recovery from damage in longitudinal studies of dystrophic skeletal muscle.
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