ASYMMETRICAL MUSCLE HYPERTROPHY SIMULATING A LOCALIZED SOFT-TISSUE MASS

Three children with a soft tissue mass presented to the Department of Radiology for investigation. Two children had a mass in the right axil la and the third had a mass overlying the right scapula. Cross-section al imaging in each case revealed muscle hypertrophy rather than a disc rete mass. The radiological diagnosis was later confirmed by histology . Minor asymmetry of muscles is quite common as a normal finding, but gross asymmetry of normal muscle is rare. Localised hypertrophy of mus cle may result from exercise in children, but a history of excessive g ymnastic exercise was apparent in only one child. The cause of the hyp ertrophy in the other two children is unknown.