MRE Could Provide A Definitive Diagnosis For People With Muscle Pain

[Guest guest]

MRE Could Provide A Definitive Diagnosis For People With Muscle Pain

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/90249.php

An estimated nine million men and women in the United States live

with myofascial pain syndrome, a condition marked by pain that

permeates muscles in the neck, back and shoulders. The condition is

difficult to diagnose and not entirely understood, but research

studies indicate that a new imaging technology developed at Mayo

Clinic holds promise for a definitive diagnosis and, perhaps

eventually, new treatments for people who have the syndrome.

A Mayo Clinic study published in the November issue of the Archives

of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation shows that magnetic

resonance elastography, or MRE, can provide images of the affected

muscle with clarity and insight not possible with magnetic resonance

imaging, or MRI. While an MRI uses a magnetic field and radio waves

to create clear and detailed cross-sectional images of the body's

internal tissues and organs, an MRE measures the elasticity of

tissue as it is gently vibrated.

" Additional research is necessary, but our findings in this pilot

study provide a strong basis to suspect that MRE technology can

identify changes in muscle tone and stiffness that could previously

only be identified by physical examination by a physician or a

therapist, " says Basford, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic

specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation and an author of

the study. " Prior to these findings, we did not have a good

diagnostic test for myofascial pain syndrome. "

An MRE employs standard MRI equipment with a few modifications, and

works by measuring the wavelength of vibrations sent through the

tissues. A vibrating metal plate is placed on the patient causing

muscles to contract and stiffen. When this occurs, researchers can

measure the elasticity of muscles and detect abnormal hardening of

tissues, which in myofasical pain syndrome can cause pain.

The MRE technique is being applied to the diagnosis of other

diseases, such as liver disease (http://discoverysedge.mayo.edu/de07-

1-biotech-ehman) and could also be used to diagnose breast cancer

and other tumors, which tend to be harder than the surrounding

normal tissue.

Myofascial pain syndrome is sometimes confused with fibromyalgia,

but the two conditions are clinically different. Fibromyalgia is a

chronic condition typically characterized by widespread pain in

muscles, ligaments and tendons, as well as fatigue and multiple

tender points. Myofascial pain syndrome, is a more localized pain

that is associated with trigger point tenderness. A trigger point is

a small lump in a band of tight muscle that, when pressed, triggers

a reproducible pattern of referred pain.

" In the past, myofasical pain syndrome has been very difficult to

diagnose. These new findings may be the next step for a diagnosis

and in the future may help to refine treatment options, " Dr. Basford

says.

In some chronic cases of myofascial pain, combinations of physical

therapy and trigger point injections are needed to relieve pain. In

addition, the condition is sometimes treated with the " spray and

stretch " technique, which involves spraying the muscle and trigger

point with a coolant and then slowly stretching the muscle.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Other Mayo Clinic collaborators include Kai-Nan An, Ph.D.; Sabine

Bensamoun, Ph.D.; Qingshan Chen; and , M.D.

http://www.mayoclinic.com