Abstract #4992

Stimulated Echo DTI in skeletal muscle of patients with Becker Muscular Dystrophy

Celine Baligand¹, Jedrzej Burakiewicz¹, Melissa T. Hooijmans¹, Olivier Scheidegger², Matt G. Hall³, Paola Porcari⁴, Erik H. Niks⁵, Pierre G. Carlier², Christopher Clark³, Andrew Blamire⁴, Jan J.G.M. Verschuuren⁵, and Hermien E. Kan¹

¹Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, C.J. Gorter Center for High-field MRI, Leiden, Netherlands, ²NMR laboratory, Institute of Myology, Paris, France, ³Institute of Child Health, University College of London, London, United Kingdom, ⁴Institute of Cellular Medicine and Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, ⁵Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands

Cellular sizes in skeletal muscle are significantly larger than in the brain. Therefore standard spin-echo (SE)-DTI with inherently short diffusion times may lack sensitivity for the study skeletal muscle of neuromuscular disorders (NMDs). Alternatively, stimulated-echo (STE-)DTI allows for much longer diffusion times, increasing sensitivity to cell size. Due to the challenges presented by fat replacement STE-DTI has not been previously applied in NMDs. Here, we show that STE-DTI is feasible in Becker Muscular Dystrophy patients, and can detect FA differences compared to healthy controls in mildly affected muscles.

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