Beijing researchers, in addition to clinical and immunological studies, have analysed muscle MRI images in a cohort of 168 Chinese patients with various forms of autoimmune myopathy. The aim was to define specific profiles of thigh muscle involvement.
- The cohort included 56 patients with dermatomyositis (DM), 61 with necrotizing autoimmune myopathy (NAM), and 51 with anti-synthetase syndrome (ASS);
- Fascial oedema was more frequently observed in SSA and to a lesser extent in DM;
- SSA seems to have a more specific profile than the other two entities, particularly with regard to the asymmetry of the damage and the preservation of the adductor muscles.
Muscle MRI can therefore, under these conditions, be a useful diagnostic tool.
