RADIOLOGICMODALITIES TODIAGNOSECHRONIC
EXERTIONALCOMPARTMENTSYNDROME
- Nuclear medicine:Scintigraphy has recently been
investigated in the diagnosis of CECS (Samuelson
and Cram, 1996; Edwards et al, 1999; Owens et al,
1999). The utility of this study is based on the detec-
tion of abnormalities in tracer uptake in muscle com-
partments. Specifically, the identification of decreased
postexertional muscle perfusion and radionuclide
concentration in the compartment with increased
pressure when compared to resting images (Edwards
et al, 1999; Owens et al, 1999). - MRI:Recent interest has focused on the use of mag-
netic resonance(MR) imaging in the evaluation and
diagnosis of CECS (Eskelin, Lotjonen, and
Mantysaari, 1998; Verleisdonk, van Gils A, and van
der Werken, 2001). The theory behind use of MR
imaging is based on the fact that MR imaging is sen-
sitive to changes in water distribution in skeletal
muscle. In CECS, if tissue edema causes pressure ele-
vations in muscle compartments, theoretically postex-
ercise MR imaging should be able to detect the
increased water content (Kiuru et al, 2003; Eskelin,
Lotjonen, and Mantysaari, 1998).
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1975.134 SECTION 2 • EVALUATION OF THE INJURED ATHLETE