Christopher David James Sinclair1,2, Mario A. Miranda1,2, Pedro Cowley2, Mary Reilly1, John S. Thornton1,2, Tarek A. Yousry1,2
1Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; 2Lysholm Department of Neuroradiology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK
Magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) maps of the lower legs of nine adult patients suffering from chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and ten healthy control subjects were obtained. Clinical severity in the CIDP patients was assessed by manual muscle strength testing of ankle dorsiflexion. The median MTR across all lower leg muscles for the CDIP group was significantly lower than for the controls. MTR in the anterior compartment of the leg correlated significantly with reduced clinical muscle strength. MTR may provide a valuable surrogate biomarker of disease severity in future therapeutic trials in CIDP and other neuromuscular conditions.