Abstract
Purpose: To measure the stiffness of the vastus medialis (VM) in hyperthyroid patients before and after treatment. Materials and Methods: A total of five healthy euthyroid patients and five hyperthyroid patients were tested using magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), which involves the induction of shear waves in the thigh muscles using a pneumatic driver at 90 Hz. Results: Among the pretreatment hyperthyroid cohort a lower stiffness was found when the muscle was relaxed (2.11 ± 0.61 kPa) compared the stiffness following treatment of hyperthyroidism (5.52 ± 1.52 kPa), which was accompanied by an improvement in the contractile function of the VM. Pretreatment muscle stiffness was also less than that of age matched healthy volunteers (4.56 ± 0.40 kPa). The behavior of the waves was sensitive to the stage of this myopathy and to the amount of free thyroxine (FT4). Conclusion: The MRE technique provides a new tool to gain new insights into pathophysiology of thyroid associated and other muscle diseases and their response to treatment.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 708-713 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2007 |
Keywords
- Graves' disease
- Hyperthyroidism
- Magnetic resonance elastography
- Muscle stiffness
- Myopathy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging