Abstract #1579

A Potential Pathophysiological Link Between Generalized and Localized Muscle Fat Infiltration in Chronic Whiplash Patients

Anette Karlsson^1,2, Anneli Peolsson³, James Elliott⁴, Thobias Romu^1,2, Helena Ljunggren³, and Olof Dahlqvist Leinhard^2,5

¹Department of Biomedical Engineering, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden, ²Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden, ³Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Physiotherapy, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden, ⁴Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ⁵Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

Muscle fat infiltration (MFI) in the cervical multifidi muscles and whole-body skeletal muscle tissue was measured in participants with chronic whiplash associated disorders (WAD) using whole-body fat-water separated MRI to investigate potential interaction between deep neck muscle and generalized MFI. Thirty participants with chronic WAD and 30 matched controls were included. MFI in multifidi was strongly associated to whole-body MFI as well as to severity of WAD. The strong association between Multifidi MFI and whole-body MFI indicates that both generalized factors and localized effects related to the trauma may be important for understanding the pathophysiology of chronic WAD.

This abstract and the presentation materials are available to members only; a login is required.

Join Here