Introduction: The initial symptoms of neuralgic amyotrophy(NA) are very similar to those of other neurological diseases and shoulder disorders. NA may therefore be misdiagnosed and sometimes patients, who are misdiagnosed as other diseases, may suffer from unnecessary diagnostic procedures and surgeries. However, it is difficult to diagnoses NA in acute stage. The purpose of this study is to describe the findings of magnetic resonance neurography(MRN) of NA and its usability for patients with NA in acute stage.
Methods: We reviewed the medical and radiologic records of sixteen patients diagnosed with NA retrospectively. Among them, nine patients evaluated by MRN were enrolled in our study. Neurophysiological studies were performed 2-4 weeks after symptom onset and MRN was performed within 3 weeks after symptom onset in all the patients. We routinely obtained coronal T1 and T2-weighted spin-echo sequences and the coronal short tau inversion recovery imaging.
Results: . All patients had clinical findings compatible with NA. Findings of MRN of the affected brachial plexus showed a thickened and hyper-intense trunk in all nine patients. All patients were managed conservatively with analgesics and physical therapy without additional diagnostic procedures.
Conclusions: Magnetic resonance neurography findings of all patients showed thickened and hyperintense trunk of the affected brachial plexus even in acute stage. Magnetic resonance neurography is the most sensitive and an essential diagnostic modality for neuralgic amyotrophy in acute stage.
Patient Care: for careful diagnosis of neuralgic amyotrophy patients.
Learning Objectives: To know the usability of MR neurogrphy in acute stage of neuralgic amyotrophy.
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