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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Michela GuglieriORCiD, Dr Kieren Hollingsworth, Ewan Mercer, Professor Volker StraubORCiD, Emerita Professor Katherine Bushby
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Objective: There are currently no effective treatments to halt the muscle breakdown in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), although genetic-based clinical trials are being piloted. Most of these trials have as an endpoint the restoration of dystrophin in muscle fibers, hence requiring sufficiently well-preserved muscle of recruited patients. The choice of the muscles to be studied and the role of noninvasive methods to assess muscle preservation therefore require further evaluation. Methods: We studied the degree of muscle involvement in the lower leg muscles of 34 patients with DMD >8 years, using muscle MRI. In a subgroup of 15 patients we correlated the muscle MRI findings with the histology of open extensor digitorum brevis (EDB) muscle biopsies. Muscle MRI involvement was assigned using a scale 0-4 (normal-severe). Results: In all patients we documented a gradient of involvement of the lower leg muscles: the posterior compartment (gastrocnemius > soleus) was most severely affected; the anterior compartment (tibialis anterior/posterior, popliteus, extensor digitorum longus) least affected. Muscle MRI showed EDB involvement that correlated with the patient's age (p = 0.055). We show a correlation between the MRI and EDB histopathologic changes, with MRI 3-4 grades associated with a more severe fibro-adipose tissue replacement. The EDB was sufficiently preserved for bulk and signal intensity in 18/22 wheelchair users aged 10-16.6 years. Conclusion: This study provides a detailed correlation between muscle histology and MRI changes in DMD and demonstrates the value of this imaging technique as a reliable tool for the selection of muscles in patients recruited into clinical trials. Neurology (R) 2011;76:346-353
Author(s): Kinali M, Arechavala-Gomeza V, Cirak S, Glover A, Guglieri M, Feng L, Hollingsworth KG, Hunt D, Jungbluth H, Roper HP, Quinlivan RM, Gosalakkal JA, Jayawant S, Nadeau A, Hughes-Carre L, Manzur AY, Mercuri E, Morgan JE, Straub V, Bushby K, Sewry C, Rutherford M, Muntoni F
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Neurology
Year: 2011
Volume: 76
Issue: 4
Pages: 346-353
Print publication date: 01/01/2011
ISSN (print): 0028-3878
ISSN (electronic): 1526-632X
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e318208811f
DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e318208811f
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