Repeat MRI in acute rhabdomyolysis: correlation with clinicopathological findings.

OBJECTIVE: Four cases of acute rhabdomyolysis are presented and the correlation between clinicopathological and MR findings is discussed.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The cases include carnitine palmitoyltransferase I deficiency presenting as compartment syndrome, acute polymyositis, acute myositis associated with Epstein-Barr virus infection, and glycyrrhizin- and diuretic-induced hypokalemic myopathy.
RESULTS: The T2-weighted MR images revealed high intensity lesions in the affected muscle groups. The lesions seen on MR correlated precisely with the symptoms and neurological deficits of the patients. Repeat MR studies showed that the high intensity lesions seen on T2-weighted MR images resolved in parallel with the clinical course.
CONCLUSION: This reversibility of the MR findings suggests that the high intensity lesions do not reflect permanent myopathic changes, but probably represent transient edema in the acute phase of rhabdomyolysis.