Decreased muscular perfusion in dermatomyositis: Initial results detected by inflow-based vascular-space-occupancy MRI

OBJECTIVE. This study aimed to determine whether inflow-based vascular-space-occupancy (iVASO) MRI could reproducibly quantify skeletal muscle perfusion and differentiate patients with dermatomyositis (DM) from healthy subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS. A total of 25 patients with DM and 22 healthy volunteers underwent iVASO MRI in a 3-T MRI scanner. Maximum and mean arteriolar muscle blood volume (MBV) values of four subgroups of muscles (normal muscles, morphologically normal-appearing muscles, edematous muscles, and atrophic or fat-infiltrated muscles) were obtained. Maximum and mean arteriolar MBV values were compared among the different subgroups, and repeat testing was performed in 20 subjects to assess reproducibility. RESULTS. Compared with normal muscles in healthy subjects, morphologically normal-appearing muscles, edematous muscles, and atrophic or fat-infiltrated muscles in patients with DM showed a significant decrease of both maximum and mean arteriolar MBV (p < .001). Both parameters were significantly lower in atrophic or fat-infiltrated muscles than in morphologically normal-appearing and edematous muscles (p < .001). ROC AUCs for discriminating patients with DM from healthy volunteers were 0.842 and 0.812 for maximum and mean arteriolar MBV values, respectively. As a measure of test-retest studies, the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were 0.990 (95% CI, 0.986–0.993) and 0.990 (95% CI, 0.987–0.993) for maximum and mean arteriolar MBV, respectively. For interobserver reproducibility, the ICCs were 0.989 (95% CI, 0.986–0.991) and 0.980 (95% CI, 0.975–0.983), respectively. CONCLUSION. iVASO MRI can reproducibly quantify arteriolar MBV in the thigh and discriminate between healthy volunteers and patients with DM.