MRI EVALUATION OF DIABETIC MUSCLE INFARCTION

Diabetic muscle infarction (DMI) is a painful and potentially serious complication in patients with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus. The incidence of DMI is likely much greater than reports in the literatur e suggest, perhaps secondary to the difficulty in making the diagnosis and excluding other more serious etiologies. This paper describes the role of MRI in the evaluation of a diabetic patient with a painful, s wollen limb. Early application of MRI can more accurately classify the disease process and focus the differential diagnosis, thus avoiding t he hazards of medical therapy associated with other etiologies such as deep venous thrombosis, cellulitis, or osteomyelitis. This paper desc ribes the evaluation and diagnostic pitfalls encountered in two patien ts. MRI techniques and applications are presented with a discussion of clinical and radiological differential diagnoses.