Quantitative analysis of MR T2 relaxation times in neck muscles

T2 relaxation times (T2 times) are different between resting and exercised muscles and between muscles of healthy subjects and subjects with muscle pathology. However, studies specifically focusing on neck muscles are lacking. Furthermore, normative neck muscle T2 times are not well defined and meth...

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Published in:Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Main Author: Phua C.S.; Moffat B.; Paul E.; Ang M.; Law M.; Bertram K.; Hutton E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier Inc. 2023
Online Access:https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85166664516&doi=10.1016%2fj.mri.2023.07.013&partnerID=40&md5=2bcf3fc7be3eb04cf934ef31529010a3
id 2-s2.0-85166664516
spelling 2-s2.0-85166664516
Phua C.S.; Moffat B.; Paul E.; Ang M.; Law M.; Bertram K.; Hutton E.
Quantitative analysis of MR T2 relaxation times in neck muscles
2023
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
103

10.1016/j.mri.2023.07.013
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85166664516&doi=10.1016%2fj.mri.2023.07.013&partnerID=40&md5=2bcf3fc7be3eb04cf934ef31529010a3
T2 relaxation times (T2 times) are different between resting and exercised muscles and between muscles of healthy subjects and subjects with muscle pathology. However, studies specifically focusing on neck muscles are lacking. Furthermore, normative neck muscle T2 times are not well defined and methodology used to analyse T2 times in neck muscles is not robust. We analysed T2 times in key neck muscles and explored factors affecting variability between muscles. 20 healthy subjects were recruited. Two circular regions of interest (ROIs) were drawn in two mutually exclusive regions within neck muscles on T2 weighted images and values averaged. ROI measurements were performed by a co-investigator, supervised by a neuro-radiologist. For the first ten subjects, measurements were done from C1-T1. For the remaining subjects, ROIs were drawn at two pre-determined levels. Two MRIs were repeated at 31 degrees acquisition to evaluate the effect of muscle fibre orientation. ROI values were translated into T2 times. Results showed semispinalis capitis had the longest T2 times (range 46.88–51.42 ms), followed by splenius capitis (range 47.37–48.33 ms), trapezius (range 45.27–47.46 ms), levator scapulae (range 43.17–45.63 ms) and sternocleidomastoid (range 38.45–42.91 ms). T2 times did not vary along length of muscles and were unaffected by muscle fibre orientation (P > 0.05). T2 times of splenius capitis correlated significantly with age at C2/C3 and C5/C6 levels and trapezius at C7/T1 level. Gender did not influence relaxation times (P > 0.05). In conclusion, results of normative neck muscle T2 time values and factors influencing the T2 times could serve as a reference for future MR analysis of neck muscles. The methodology used may also be useful for related studies of neck muscles. © 2023 The Authors
Elsevier Inc.
0730725X
English
Article
All Open Access; Hybrid Gold Open Access
author Phua C.S.; Moffat B.; Paul E.; Ang M.; Law M.; Bertram K.; Hutton E.
spellingShingle Phua C.S.; Moffat B.; Paul E.; Ang M.; Law M.; Bertram K.; Hutton E.
Quantitative analysis of MR T2 relaxation times in neck muscles
author_facet Phua C.S.; Moffat B.; Paul E.; Ang M.; Law M.; Bertram K.; Hutton E.
author_sort Phua C.S.; Moffat B.; Paul E.; Ang M.; Law M.; Bertram K.; Hutton E.
title Quantitative analysis of MR T2 relaxation times in neck muscles
title_short Quantitative analysis of MR T2 relaxation times in neck muscles
title_full Quantitative analysis of MR T2 relaxation times in neck muscles
title_fullStr Quantitative analysis of MR T2 relaxation times in neck muscles
title_full_unstemmed Quantitative analysis of MR T2 relaxation times in neck muscles
title_sort Quantitative analysis of MR T2 relaxation times in neck muscles
publishDate 2023
container_title Magnetic Resonance Imaging
container_volume 103
container_issue
doi_str_mv 10.1016/j.mri.2023.07.013
url https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85166664516&doi=10.1016%2fj.mri.2023.07.013&partnerID=40&md5=2bcf3fc7be3eb04cf934ef31529010a3
description T2 relaxation times (T2 times) are different between resting and exercised muscles and between muscles of healthy subjects and subjects with muscle pathology. However, studies specifically focusing on neck muscles are lacking. Furthermore, normative neck muscle T2 times are not well defined and methodology used to analyse T2 times in neck muscles is not robust. We analysed T2 times in key neck muscles and explored factors affecting variability between muscles. 20 healthy subjects were recruited. Two circular regions of interest (ROIs) were drawn in two mutually exclusive regions within neck muscles on T2 weighted images and values averaged. ROI measurements were performed by a co-investigator, supervised by a neuro-radiologist. For the first ten subjects, measurements were done from C1-T1. For the remaining subjects, ROIs were drawn at two pre-determined levels. Two MRIs were repeated at 31 degrees acquisition to evaluate the effect of muscle fibre orientation. ROI values were translated into T2 times. Results showed semispinalis capitis had the longest T2 times (range 46.88–51.42 ms), followed by splenius capitis (range 47.37–48.33 ms), trapezius (range 45.27–47.46 ms), levator scapulae (range 43.17–45.63 ms) and sternocleidomastoid (range 38.45–42.91 ms). T2 times did not vary along length of muscles and were unaffected by muscle fibre orientation (P > 0.05). T2 times of splenius capitis correlated significantly with age at C2/C3 and C5/C6 levels and trapezius at C7/T1 level. Gender did not influence relaxation times (P > 0.05). In conclusion, results of normative neck muscle T2 time values and factors influencing the T2 times could serve as a reference for future MR analysis of neck muscles. The methodology used may also be useful for related studies of neck muscles. © 2023 The Authors
publisher Elsevier Inc.
issn 0730725X
language English
format Article
accesstype All Open Access; Hybrid Gold Open Access
record_format scopus
collection Scopus
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