H. Yoshioka et al., ACUTE CHANGE OF EXERCISED MUSCLE USING MAGNETIZATION-TRANSFER CONTRAST MR-IMAGING, Magnetic resonance imaging, 12(7), 1994, pp. 991-997
We evaluated the acute changes in exercised muscle using magnetization
transfer contrast (MTC) MR imaging with a short repetition time seque
nce. Ten volunteers performed supine ankle dorsiflexion exercise. MTC
gradient-recalled echo (GRE) images were obtained before and after exe
rcise at 1.5 T. The effect of MTC was assessed by dividing the signal
intensity on MTC GRE images by that on conventional GRE images (M(s)/M
(0)). The signal intensity, M(s)/M(0) and cross-sectional area of exer
cised muscle were all greater at 1-2 min after exercise than immediate
ly after exercise. We propose that this additional increase in these p
arameters after exercise was due to physiological reflow or hyperemia.
Since the M(s)/M(0) showed a good correlation with free water content
in exercised muscle, this ratio may provide a quantitative variable f
or evaluating dynamic change of water-macromolecule interaction in ske
letal muscle,