Jill M. Slade1, Robert McClowry1, Deborah Gelinlas2, 3, Theodore F. Towse4, Ronald A. Meyer5
1Radiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States; 2Neurology, Michigan State University; 3ALS Clinic, St. Mary Freebed Rehabilitation Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI; 4Radiology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN; 5Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
ALS is a progressive motor neuron disease that results in rapid motor neuron loss. Early in disease progression, patients undergo reinnervation from healthy motor nerves and muscle quantity and function can be preserved. Muscle T2 of the leg muscles was used to evaluate the neuromuscular reorganization in patients with ALS by examining T2 heterogeneity. The main study outcome suggests that neuromuscular organization is not altered with ALS. The study revealed a sub-population of patients with elevated resting muscle T2 and altered muscle responses to dynamic exercise.
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